Forex - Australian dollar retains jobs data gains, Japanese yen flat

Investing.com - The Australian dollar held onto gains Thursday after official data showed a surge in employed numbers far higher than expected.

AUD/USD traded at 0.9066, up 0.87%, after figures for February showed 47,300 new jobs added, compared to an expectation of 18,000. The jobless rate however stayed steady as expected at 6.0% and the particpation rate edged up to 64.8%, compared to an expected 64.5%.

Separately, a private survey showed inflation expectations in Australia fell in March for the first time in three months and to the lower end of the Reserve Bank's 2% to 3% target band. The Melbourne Institute's consumer inflation expectations fell to 2.1% in March from 2.3% last month.

In Japan, core machine orders rose 13.4% month-on-month compared to expectations of a 7% gain, reflecting the modest economic recovery mainly led by domestic demand.

USD/JPY traded nearly flat at 102.75, down 0.02%, after the data.

Earlier in the Asian session, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Thursday raised the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75% in a widely expected decision that still gave the currency a jolt upwards.

NZD/USD traded at 0.8512, up 0.47%, in Asian trade.

China is due to release February industrial output (seen up 9.5% year-on year), retail sales (a 13.5% year-on-year gain expected) and investment data (seen up 19.4% year-on-year) at 1330 in Beijing (0530 GMT).

Beijing uses the first two months of the year together in order to smooth out distortions created by the Chinese New Year holiday.

The Bank of Korea announce its rate stance 1000 local time (0100 GMT) and the Bank Indonesia is also set to review rates with an announcement expected around 1000 GMT.

Overnight, the dollar edged lower against most major currencies after an ECB official's comments downplaying deflationary pressures sparked demand for the euro, while Ukraine concerns boosted gold prices, which came at the dollar's expense.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 79.72.