Aussie Rises As Australia Unemployment Rate Falls

The Australian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, after data showed that jobless rate in Australia fell more than expected in April.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the jobless rate in the country was a seasonally adjusted 5.7 percent in April. That beat forecasts for 5.9 percent, which would have been unchanged from the March reading.

The Australian economy added 37,400 jobs to total 12,099,300 in April. That was well above expectations for a gain of 5,000 jobs following the downwardly revised addition of 60,000 jobs in the previous month.

Full-time employment decreased 11,600 to 8,227,400 and part-time employment increased 49,000 to 3,871,900.

In other economic news, data from the Melbourne Institute showed that consumer prices in Australia are predicted to have risen 4.0 percent on year in May. That's down from 4.1 percent in April, and it moves further off of January's multi-year high reading of 4.3 percent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistic's official read on inflation for the first quarter of 2017 was 2.1 percent on year.

Wednesday, the Australian dollar had fallen 0.05 percent against the U.S. dollar, 1.96 percent against the yen, 0.62 percent against the euro, 0.04 percent against the loonie, and 0.77 percent against the kiwi.

In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to near 2-week high of 0.7467 against the U.S. dollar and 1.0163 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7431 and 1.0108, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.76 against the greenback and 1.02 against the loonie.

Against the euro, the yen and the NZ dollar, the aussie advanced to 1.4922, 83.00 and 1.0773 from an early 8-month low of 1.5075, nearly a 4-week low of 82.11 and a 1-week low of 1.0692, respectively. The aussie may test resistance around 1.46 against the euro, 85.00 against the yen, and 1.09 against the kiwi.

In the scheduled events today, U.K. retail sales data for April is due to be released at 4:30 am ET.

At 3:50 am ET, ECB Executive Board Member Yves Mersch and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann will deliver speeches at a symposium on payment systems of the Bundesbank, in Frankfurt.

At 7:00 am ET, Lorie Logan Senior Vice President at Federal Reserve Bank is expected to speak at the "Remarks by Lorie Logan", in New York.

In the New York session, U.S. jobless claims for the week ended May 13 and U.S. leading indicators for April are slated for release.

At 8:30 am ET, European Central Bank Executive Board Member Yves Mersch will give Keynote presentation at Government Borrowers Forum hosted by the European Stability Mechanism and the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg, in Luxembourg.

At 8:45 am ET, ECB Board Member Sabine Lautenschlager is expected to deliver a speech at the IBF Board meeting in Berlin.

At 1:00 pm ET, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is expected to speak at the University of Tel Aviv.

At 1:15 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is expected to speak on Economy and Monetary Policy before the Economic Club of Minnesota.