Australian, NZ Dollars Advance Ahead Of U.S. Employment Report

The Australian and NZ dollars climbed against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as investors await key U.S. jobs data due later in the day for important clues about the Fed's tapering timeline.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 750,000 jobs in August after surging by 943,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.

Fed officials have indicated inflation has reached their target but they need to see further improvement in the labor market before they begin tapering asset purchases and raising interest rates.

The latest survey from Caixin revealed earlier today that the services sector in China dropped into contraction territory in August with a services PMI score of 46.7, down sharply from 54.9 in July.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent on month in July- coming in at A$29.778 billion.

That was in line with expectations following the 1.8 percent decline in June.

The aussie appreciated to more than a 4-week high of 0.7426 against the greenback and a 1-1/2-month high of 81.71 against the yen, off its early lows of 0.7395 and 81.25, respectively. The next possible resistance for the aussie is seen around 0.76 against the greenback and 83.00 against the yen.

The aussie firmed to more than a 2-week high of 1.5996 against the euro, after falling to 1.6064 at 9:45 pm ET. The aussie is seen finding resistance around the 1.58 level.

The aussie rebounded to 0.9316 against the loonie and 1.0424 against the kiwi, from its early 2-day lows of 0.9281 and 1.039, respectively. Next key resistance for the aussie is seen around 0.95 against the loonie and 1.06 against the kiwi.

The kiwi touched a 2-1/2-month high of 0.7130 against the greenback, near 2-month high of 78.43 against the yen and a fresh 3-week high of 1.6663 against the euro, up from its prior lows of 0.7106, 78.07 and 1.6716, respectively. On the upside, 0.73, 80.00 and 1.65 are possibly seen as the next resistance levels against the greenback, the yen and the euro, respectively.

Looking ahead, PMI reports from major European economies and Eurozone retail sales for July are due out in the European session.

U.S. jobs data and ISM services PMI for August will be out in the New York session.