AUD/USD rose to highest levels this month despite weak Australian employment data

Australian dollar increased its value against the greenback on Thursday, despite the disappointing employment change report out of Australia, but on the other hand the Aussie received a boost after Chinese import figure rose more than projected in July.

AUD/USD climbed to a session high at 0.9088 at 5:39 GMT, the highest point since July 30th, after which consolidation followed at 0.9081, up by 0.91% for the day. Support was likely to be received at August 7th low, 0.8920, while resistance was to be met at July 30th high, 0.9206.

Earlier today, an official report said that the number of employed people in Australia decreased by 10 200 in July, compared to the expected increase by 6 000, following the positive change of the indicator of 9 300 in June. Unemployment rate in the country remained unchanged at 5.7% during July, mismatching forecasts of an increase to 5.8%. These data bolstered concerns over a possible slow down in economy. In addition, the participation rate in the country unexpectedly fell to 65.1% in July from 65.3% a month ago. These figures triggered a short selling impulse on the Aussie earlier, but subsequently the AUD/USD pair received support after the release of the Chinese trade report.

It became clear that Chinese exports rose by 5.1% in June on annual basis, chilling fears of a slow down in the second largest economy worldwide. Import figure, on the other hand, advanced 10.9% in June annually, supported by increased domestic demand. Economists predicted a 1% rise during last month. These results influenced positively the Aussie, because China is Australias largest trading partner.

“The worst of China slowdown fear may have passed for now, and that’s helping the Australian dollar,” said John Horner, a Sydney-based strategist at Deutsche Bank AG, cited by Bloomberg. “There’s been considerable short positioning in the currency, and given the rally we have seen in the past few days, those positions may come under further pressure.”

Elsewhere, the Aussie was trading higher against the kiwi dollar, as AUD/NZD cross advanced 0.73% to 1.1377 at 7:58 GMT. Australian currency was higher against the euro as well, with EUR/AUD pair decreasing by 0.49% to trade at 1.4750 at 8:00 GMT. Australian dollar has decreased its value by 10% over the past three months, the worst performing currency among 10 developed-nation currencies, tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes.