The Australian dollar was lower late Monday, hit by the one-two punch of strong U.S. employment data on Friday and news of a trade deficit in China.
U.S. non-farm payrolls grew by 227,000 in February, the third straight month of strong growth, enough to damp expectations the Federal Reserve will contemplate a renewed stimulus for the world's biggest economy.
A second shock came as China posted its largest trade deficit since 1989 in February. China posted a deficit of $31.48 billion last month after reporting a $27.28 billion surplus in January, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Saturday.
"While part of this weakness undoubtedly reflects Lunar New Year distortions, the data will add to fears the global economy has hit a bit of a soft patch lately," said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at NAB.
Some of the weakness associated with China could also reflect the fact that Chinese authorities haven't announced an easing in policy, despite widespread market speculation in recent days that they would.
Sue Trinh, a currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong, said she still expects the People's Bank of China to cut its reserve ratio requirement. "Only timing is the unknown," she said.
Going forward, the focus will be on the conclusion of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting and the Federal Open Market Committee's interest-rate decision for March, both of which take place Tuesday.
At 0700 GMT, the Australian dollar was trading at US$1.0520 from US$1.06370 late Friday, and Y86.58 from Y87.19.
No comments:
Post a Comment