The dollar held mostly steady against the euro and the yen on Thursday, but dropped against the Australian dollar after domestic job data beat expectations, and against the yuan, which received a lift from Chinese monetary authorities.
The dollar is heading for its first weekly gain in nearly a month against a basket of currencies, having made most upward headway against the pound. The pound has lost 2.3 per cent in value this week after data on Wednesday showed UK inflation finally appeared to be cooling.
For all latest news, follow The My News’s Google News channel. On Thursday, the Aussie dollar was the stand-out performer, rising by as much as 1 per cent at one point, after employment beat expectations for a second consecutive month in June, leaving the door open for more rate hikes from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan rose after monetary authorities in Beijing relaxed a rule that allows companies to raise funds overseas, while China’s major state-owned banks were believed to have sold dollars on the offshore market.
The dollar index traded roughly unchanged against a basket of currencies but stayed within sight of this week’s 15-month low, although individual currency reactions to data are likely to be volatile for now, according to Societe Generale Fx strategist Kit Juckes.
The Aussie dollar was last up 0.9 per cent at $0.683, while the New Zealand dollar received a boost in sympathy and rose 0.4 per cent on the day to $0.6286.
