The Chinese government’s pledge to ensure that the economy remains stable in the fall out of the Coronavirus outbreak there has helped to push the Aussie Dollar higher for the fourth consecutive day. Beijing has said that US import tariffs would be lowered, some by half, and the government will seek to work with Washington to eliminate future tariff increases. There is still concerns that the impact of the virus is growing in China, with new deaths reported daily and what now seems to be a premature claim of improved better treatment. Nonetheless, China’s efforts are bolstering asset-based currencies, with the Aussie Dollar a key recipient of sentiment.
As of 11:09 am in London trade, the AUD/USD was trading at $0.6747, a gain of 0.0074% and off the earlier peak of $0.67654. The NZD/USD is not seeing the same sentiment shift, however, with the pair lower at $0.6468, a loss of 0.1559%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $0.64567 to a high of $0.64855.
Markets’ focus will turn to the US on Friday with the release of the government’s non-farms payroll report for January. Analysts and economists recently polled are predicting a rise in the figures to 160,000 new jobs from the previous month’s 145,000. Last month, the actual figures reported fell far short of expectations, and FX traders will be anxious to see the accuracy of the forecasts and if the January numbers are once again revised. Average hourly wages are also likely to increase to 3.0% from 2.9% according to the same poll. The unemployment rate is expected to remain flat at 3.5%.