(RTTNews) - Thursday in Asia, the Aussie strengthened against its major counterparts following a government report that showed Australian employers unexpectedly added workers in October, reinforcing the market's view the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike interest rates next month.
The aussie jumped to fresh multi-month highs against the greenback and the euro, 15-day high against the yen and a 6-day high against the NZ dollar.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said today that the number of people employed rose 24,500 from September, topping economists' expectations for a drop of 10,000 jobs.
However, the jobless rate rose to 5.8 percent in October from 5.7 percent in September.
Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan said on November 2 that unemployment would peak at 6.75 percent by the June quarter of 2010 before decreasing to 6.5 percent the following year.
Swan told reporters in Singapore today, where he is attending the Asia- Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, that Australia still faces a "substantial challenge" on unemployment and the government will maintain its economic stimulus.
Australia became the first Group of 20 nations to raise borrowing costs in October since the height of the global recession. In contrast, G-20 nations said last weekend that interest rates should be kept low and record budget deficits maintained until recoveries take hold.
The RBA also hiked its rates in November by another 25 bps amid signs the nation's economic recovery was gathering momentum. The RBA's rate currently stands at 3.55.
The Aussie, which closed yesterday's trading at 0.9302 against the U.S. currency rose to a 15- 1/2 -month high of 0.9372 in early Asian deals on Thursday. The next upside target level for the aussie-greenback pair is seen at 0.985.
The aussie gained as Asian stocks extended a global rally as investors continued to favor riskier assets on further signs that the global economy is picking up, while a weak U.S. dollar sent gold to another record high.
A string of robust economic data from China on Wednesday has added to expectations the world's fastest-growing major economy can lead a pick-up in global activity. That has further encouraged a shift from the dollar to riskier assets and boosted commodity prices.
Gold hit a record high of $1,120.30 in early Asian deals today. Gold is often seen as a hedge against energy price-led inflation.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil futures held steady above $79 a barrel, with the market awaiting the release of government data on crude and refined oil product stocks and other economic indicators due out later in the day for directional cues.
