Dollar weaker on US, China data

THE Australian dollar is trading lower following the release of improved US employment figures and disappointing Chinese data.

THE Australian dollar is trading lower following the release of improved US employment figures and disappointing Chinese data.

At midday AEDT today, the currency was trading at 102.20 US cents, down from 102.43 cents on Friday afternoon.

Easy Forex senior currency dealer Francisco Solar said the Australian dollar lost ground following the release of US non-farm payrolls figures on Friday night, which showed 236,000 jobs were added to the economy in February.

Chinese economic data, showing weaker growth and retail sales and higher inflation also put downward pressure on the currency.

"It does seem to be on a weaker footing, which is not surprising given we had that really good number from non-farm payrolls on Friday night," he said.

"Coupled with the numbers we saw out of China over the weekend, which weren't all that impressive, Aussie was always going to start weaker."

Mr Solar said while positive US economic data would traditionally have provided a boost for the Australian dollar, it was currently having the opposite effect: pushing the Australian dollar lower by lifting demand for the greenback.

He said the Australian dollar would remain stuck within its recent range of 101.60 to 103.00 US cents for the next few days.

The key local driver would be the release of Australian jobs data for February on Thursday.
At 0830 AEDT on Monday, the March 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.430 (implying a yield of 3.570 per cent), down from 96.480 (3.520 per cent) on Friday.

The March three-year bond futures contract was at 97.020 (2.980 per cent), down from 97.070 (2.930 per cent).