Australian Dollar Weakens After Downbeat Jobs Data

The Australian dollar moved down against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as the nation's unemployment rate jumped in May amid virus crisis.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 7.1 percent in May - missing forecasts for 7.0 percent and up from the upwardly revised 6.4 percent in April (originally 6.2 percent).

The Australian economy shed 227,700 jobs last month to 12,154,100 - again missing estimates for a decline of 125,000 following the loss of 594,300 in the previous month.

Full-time employment decreased 89,100 to 8,540,000 people and part-time employment decreased 138,600 to 3,614,100 people.

The aussie dropped to a 2-day low of 0.6837 against the greenback and a 3-day low of 72.99 against the yen, after rising to 0.6897 and 73.83, respectively in early deals. The aussie is seen finding support around 0.65 against the greenback and 70.00 against the yen.

The aussie edged down to 1.6422 against the euro and 0.9302 against the loonie, from its early highs of 1.6308 and 0.9349, respectively. The aussie may challenge support around 1.67 against the euro and 0.92 against the loonie.

The aussie fell back to 1.0645 against the kiwi and held steady thereafter. This may be compared to a 3-day low of 1.0633 seen earlier in the session. The pair ended yesterday's deals at 1.0659.

Looking ahead, the Swiss National Bank's monetary policy announcement will be out at 3:30 am ET. Economists widely expect the central bank to maintain policy rate at -0.75 percent.

The Bank of England's interest rate announcement is due at 7:00 am ET. The BoE is widely expected to hold its benchmark bank rate at 0.10 percent and expand the asset purchase program to GBP 745 billion from GBP 645 billion.

Canada new housing price index for May and wholesale sales for April and U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended June 13 are due in the New York session.