Australian Dollar Rises As Asian Stock Markets Traded Higher

The Australian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, as Asian stock markets traded higher following the positive cues from Wall Street on better-than-expected U.S. jobs data and also data showed that China's inflation held steady in June. Crude oil rose in Asian trades after tumbling on Friday.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the consumer prices in China were up 1.5 percent on year in June. That was unchanged from the May reading, although it was shy of expectations for 1.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, inflation fell 0.2 percent after easing 0.1 percent in May.

The bureau also said that producer prices were up 5.5 percent on year, unchanged and also in line with expectations.

Crude oil delivery for August is currently up by 0.36 percent or $44.59 per barrel. Meanwhile, the crude oil futures tumbled Friday, extending weekly losses amid lingering concerns about the global supply glut.

In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to a 6-day high of 86.92 against the yen and a 4-day high of 1.0468 against the NZ dollar, from Friday's closing quotes of 86.60 and 1.0443, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 88.00 against the yen and 1.06 against the kiwi.

Against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the Canadian dollar, the aussie advanced to 0.7615, 1.4977 and 0.9808 from last week's closing quotes of 0.7603, 1.4989 and 0.9790, respectively. The aussie may test resistance around 0.77 against the greenback, 1.47 against the euro and 1.00 against the loonie.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies amid risk appetite.

In economic news, the Cabinet Office said that core machine orders in Japan skidded a seasonally adjusted 3.6 percent on month in May, coming in at 805.5 billion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 1.7 percent following the 3.1 percent decline in April.

Japan posted a current account surplus of 1,653.9 billion yen in May. That missed forecasts for 1,792.8 billion yen following the 1,951.9 billion yen surplus in April. The trade balance showed a deficit of 115.1 billion yen, missing expectations for a shortfall of 45.0 billion yen and down from the 553.6 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

The Bank of Japan said that overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.3 percent on year in June, standing at 513.772 trillion yen. That exceeded expectations for a gain of 3.2 percent, which would have been unchanged from the May reading.

The yen fell to near 1-1/2-year lows of 130.27 against the euro and 118.48 against the Swiss franc, from Friday's closing quotes of 129.85 and 118.11, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 132.00 against the euro and 119.00 against the franc.

Against the U.S. and the New Zealand dollars, the yen dropped to a 2-month low of 114.20 and nearly a 5-1/1-month low of 83.07, from last week's closing quotes of 113.90 and 82.89, respectively. The yen is likely to find support around 115.00 against the greenback and 84.00 against the kiwi.

Against the pound and the Canadian dollar, the yen edged down to 147.29 and 88.67 from Friday's closing quotes of 146.77 and 88.43, respectively. On the downside, 148.00 against the pound and 89.00 against the loonie are seen as the next support levels for the yen.

Looking ahead, the German trade data for May is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2.00 am ET.

At 4.30 am ET, Eurozone Sentix investor confidence index for July is set to be published.

In the New York session, U.S. labor market conditions index for June and U.S. consumer credit for May are slated for release.