Australia dollar jumps on jobs boost

SYDNEY: The Australian dollar climbed to a one-week high on Thursday after a startlingly strong jobs report quashed talk of early policy easing and shunted local bond yields higher.

It had already rallied overnight after the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting that was considered dovish by investors, pushing the US dollar down broadly.

The Aussie rose 0.5% to $0.6620, having bounced 0.8% overnight in the wake of the Fed’s decision. Resistance now lies around $0.6638 and $0.6667.

It was further supported by buying against the yen which lifted it to a nine-year high of 99.72 yen.

The kiwi dollar was also up at $0.6093, after taking a brief dip on soft economic data at home.