Investing.com – The Australian dollar erased losses against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, pulling back from a two-day low after France’s top-tier credit rating was affirmed by the major rating agencies and as markets shrugged off weaker-than-expected Australian jobs data.
AUD/USD pulled back from 1.0109, the lowest since August 9, to hit 1.0270 during late Asian trade, gaining 0.89% on the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9925, the low of August 9 and a five-month low and resistance at 1.0414, Wednesday’s high.
Concerns over the health of major French lenders, particularly Societe Generale, as well as rumors of an imminent French sovereign debt downgrade rattled investors’ confidence on Wednesday, leading to sharp losses in Europe and on Wall Street.
Rating agencies Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch’s later reaffirmed France's top-tier AAA credit rating and said its outlook was stable.
Meanwhile, markets shrugged off data showing that Australia’s unemployment rose unexpectedly to an eight month high in July.
Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier that the country’s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 5.1% in July from 4.9% in June, the first increase since October.
The report also showed that Australia’s employment change fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1K, confounding expectations for a gain of 10.3K.
The previous month’s figure was revised down to 18.2K from a previously reported increase of 23.4K.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was also higher against the yen, with AUD/JPY edging up 0.43% to hit 78.57.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on its trade balance, as well as a government report on initial jobless claims and natural gas stockpiles.
AUD/USD pulled back from 1.0109, the lowest since August 9, to hit 1.0270 during late Asian trade, gaining 0.89% on the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9925, the low of August 9 and a five-month low and resistance at 1.0414, Wednesday’s high.
Concerns over the health of major French lenders, particularly Societe Generale, as well as rumors of an imminent French sovereign debt downgrade rattled investors’ confidence on Wednesday, leading to sharp losses in Europe and on Wall Street.
Rating agencies Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch’s later reaffirmed France's top-tier AAA credit rating and said its outlook was stable.
Meanwhile, markets shrugged off data showing that Australia’s unemployment rose unexpectedly to an eight month high in July.
Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier that the country’s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 5.1% in July from 4.9% in June, the first increase since October.
The report also showed that Australia’s employment change fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1K, confounding expectations for a gain of 10.3K.
The previous month’s figure was revised down to 18.2K from a previously reported increase of 23.4K.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was also higher against the yen, with AUD/JPY edging up 0.43% to hit 78.57.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on its trade balance, as well as a government report on initial jobless claims and natural gas stockpiles.