Forex - Australian dollar stronger after surprise jump in new jobs

Investing.com - The Australian dollar gained on solid jobs data released Thursday that saw a spike in new employment and a downtick in the overall employment rate.

Statistics Australia said 37,400 jobs were created in December, compared to 3,800 expected, while unemployment eased to 6.1%, compared to expectations of a 6.3% gain.

AUD/USD traded at 0.8194, up 0.55%, after the data, while USD/JPY changed hands at 117.67, up 0.28%, as core machinery orders rose 1.3%, compared to a 5.0% increase expected in November and CGPI gained 1.9%, compared to a 2.1% rise seen.

In Japan, the BoJ holds a branch managers' meeting today with BOJ Haruhiko Kuroda due to speak.

The BoJ's regional economic report is due at 1430 (0530 GMT). At the previous meeting in October, one of the nine domestic regions revised down its economic assessment from three months earlier while the eight others left their views unchanged.

Then, at 1600 (0700 GMT), BOJ Osaka branch manager Atsushi Miyanoya is due to hold a news conference to discuss the economic climate in the western commercial hub and its surrounding areas.

Overnight, the dollar remained broadly supported close to 12 year highs against the other major currencies on Wednesday, despite the release of downbeat U.S. retail sales data as the ongoing drop in oil prices continued to support safe-haven demand.

In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales declined by 0.9% last month, worse than expectations for a drop of 0.1%. Retail sales growth for November was revised down to a 0.4% gain from a previously reported increase of 0.7%.

Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, slumped by 1.0% in December, disappointing forecasts for a 0.1% increase. Core sales in November rose by 0.1%, downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 0.5%.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.09% to 92.38.

Crude oil was hit after the World Bank cut its forecasts for global growth on Tuesday, adding to fears over the faltering economic recovery. Oil prices continued to tumble on Wednesday after falling to almost six year lows in the previous session, after OPEC said it will not cut output despite a global supply glut.

The rout in oil, which has halved in value in six months, has fuelled concerns of exacerbating already low levels of inflation in many major world economies.

The single currency weakened earlier, after the advocate general of the European Court of Justice, Pedro Cruz Villalon, advised judges to approve the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions program, a measure which was launched in 2012. Villalon said the ECB must avoid any "direct involvement in the financial assistance program that applies to the State concerned."

The ruling was seen as giving the ECB leeway at its upcoming policy meeting on January 22, when many expecte it to implement full blown QE measures.