Forex - Aussie gains after RBA statement, eyes on Greece, U.S. jobs

Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose Friday after the central bank's latest economic review signalled market pricing as a good, but not definitive, view for policy ahead and as investors looked ahead to U.S. non-farm payrolls for further signals on the timing of a widely expected Federal Reserve rate hike this year.

Traders and analysts expect the data to show that the U.S. economy added 234,000 jobs in January, slowing from a gain of 252,000 in December, while the unemployment rate was forecast to hold steady at 5.6%.

AUD/USD traded at 0.7819, up 0.27%, after the statement, while USD/JPY traded at 117.42, down 0.10%. EUR/USD changed hands at 1.1462, down 0.14%

The Reserve Bank of Australia Friday eased the outlook for inflation while leaving clues to its next policy moves deliberately vague.

The quarterly Statement of Monetary Policy also assumed a lower path for the cash rate and took into account the fall in the Australian dollar, but still led to a downgrade in its growth forecast. The inflation view eased to 1.25% for headline CPI by June 2015 from an earlier range in November of 1.50% to 2.50% - and well below the mid-point aim of the 2% to 3% target.

The forecasts also assumed the cash rate moves broadly in line with market pricing but the RBA cautioned that doing this "doesn't represent a commitment by the board to any particular path for policy." The last time the RBA used market pricing in its cash rate assumption forecast was in May 2011.

Earlier, Australia's AiGroup's construction index for January showed a gain of 1.5 points to 45.9.

In Japan, at 1400 (0500 GMT), the preliminary indices of leading coincident and lagging indicators are due. The coincident composite index (CI), which reflects current business conditions, is expected to post the first rise in two months.

Overnight, the dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite upbeat U.S. jobless claims data as market sentiment remained broadly supported.

News on Greece's efforts to renegotiate its standing with creditors also continued to roil the markets with eyes now on short-term funding that would allow more time for talks.

Greece’s government is seeking debt relief on its current €240 billion bailout, which has fuelled fears over a clash with its creditors that could bring about its eventual exit from the euro zone. Athens main stock index plunged on Thursday, while the yield on Greek 10-Year bonds rose sharply to hover just below the 11%-level.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 31 increased by 11,000 to 278,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 267,000.

Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 23,000 to 290,000 last week.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to $46.56 billion in December from $39.75 billion in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $39.00 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $38.00 billion in December.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted at 93.79, up 0.14%.