Forexpros – The Australian dollar rallied against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, bouncing off an almost five-month low as upbeat employment data from Australia overshadowed concerns over political turmoil and sovereign debt woes in Greece.
AUD/USD hit 1.0118 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0112, climbing 0.63%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0020, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.0172, the high of December 26.
Official data showed earlier that Australia’s economy added 15,500 jobs in April, beating expectations for a 4,800 loss and after adding 37,600 jobs the previous month.
The report also showed that the country’s unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.9% from 5.2% in March. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 5.3% in April.
But investors remained cautious after Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s second-biggest party Syriza, gave up his attempt to form a new government on Wednesday, putting Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos in a position to make a last-ditch attempt to form a government on Thursday.
Chances of any deal on a coalition looked slim after two failed attempts, making new elections in three to four weeks the most likely outcome and fueling fears that Greece will not have a government in place in time to secure its next tranche of international aid next month.
The Aussie also remained under pressure after data showed earlier that Chinese exports and imports in April were well below analysts’ expectations.
In a report, the Customs General Administration of China said the nation’s trade surplus widened to USD18.42 billion in April from USD5.35 in the previous month.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.39%, to hit 1.2815.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on trade balance, followed by government reports on unemployment claims and import prices. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to speak.
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