Dollar dips despite US jobs figures

THE Australian dollar is higher against its US counterpart which itself has lifted against a basket of currencies.

THE Australian dollar is higher against its US counterpart which itself has lifted against a basket of currencies despite disappointing key US jobs figures. At 0635 AEST on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth 79.45 US cents, up from 79.33 US cents on Friday.

Westpac’s Imre Speizer says the US dollar index did dip slightly after US data showed that fewer jobs than expected had been added to the economy in August, although the drop did not last long.

“The US dollar index only briefly dipped following the payrolls report, closing the day 0.2 per cent higher,” he said in a Monday morning note. “US non-farm payrolls rose 156,000 in August (versus 180,000 expected), with 41,000 in downward revisions.

“However, nearly all of the disappointment was in the government sector, where we saw a 9,000 fall after 51,000 in downward revisions.” He said the local currency could lift a little further on Monday. “The AUS/USD one-day movement (likely) remains capped by 0.8000 amid flickers of life in the USD.” The Aussie dollar is also higher against the euro but down against the yen. CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0635 AEST ON MONDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 79.45 US cents, from 79.33 on Friday

* 86.95 Japanese yen, from 87.41 yen

* 66.87 euro cents, from 66.74 euro cents

(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEST previous local session)

Originally published as Dollar dips despite US jobs figures