AUD Rises on Positive Jobs Data; Yen Inches Up Amid Safe-Haven Demand

Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday in Asia following the release of better-than-expected jobs data.

The AUD/USD pair gained 0.6% to 0.6783 by 1:27 AM ET (05:27 GMT).Data from the statistics bureau showed Australia’s labor market added 41,000 roles in July from the previous month, almost three times more than the forecasted numbers.

The NZD/USD pair was up 0.1% to 0.6441.

Meanwhile, The Japanese yen inched up against the U.S. dollar. Safe-haven demand was cited as the reason for the buying in yen today as recession fears rose after the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time in 12 years while U.S. stocks closed sharply lower overnight.

The USD/JPY pair was down 0.1% by 1:20 AM ET (05:20 GMT).

Investor sentiment has already taken a hit earlier this week after China reported weaker-than-expected economic data while political unrest in Hong Kong showed no signs of stopping in the near future.

"There are still a lot of geopolitical risks, such as Hong Kong, Brexit, and the Iranian situation. I don't expect significant (risk-on) moves,” said Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan markets research at JP Morgan Securities in Tokyo.

The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was little changed at 97.787.

The USD/CNY pair inched up 0.1% to 7.0276.

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