By Ron Harui Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The yen and the dollar fell against higher-yielding currencies after reports showed Australian employers added three times as many jobs as economists forecast and Chinese bank lending increased. Australia’s dollar strengthened versus all 16 of its major counterparts after the government said the jobless rate unexpectedly fell last month amid the biggest hiring boom in five years. The euro gained against the yen and the dollar as European Union officials prepared to meet in Brussels today to discuss ways of providing financial assistance to Greece. “Better-than-expected data are likely to be good for risk- taking sentiment,” said Norifumi Yoshida, vice president of the trading section in Singapore at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., a unit of Japan’s second-largest banking group. “It’s a positive for the Australian dollar and a negative for the yen.” The yen weakened to 123.99 per euro as of 6:33 a.m. in London from 123.56 in New York yesterday, when it fell to 124.27, the lowest level since Feb. 4. The dollar slipped to $1.3778 per euro from $1.3737. The greenback traded at 89.93 yen from 89.94. Australia’s dollar advanced 1.4 percent to 79.84 yen and rose 1.4 percent to 88.78 U.S. cents. New Zealand’s currency appreciated 0.8 percent to 62.81 yen and rallied 0.8 percent to 69.85 cents. Australian Rates Australia’s dollar rose to a one-week high against the yen as today’s reports increased pressure on the central bank to resume raising borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.75 percent on Feb. 2 after three straight increases. The number of people employed in Australia climbed by 52,700 in January, the fifth monthly gain, the statistics bureau said. The jobless rate fell to 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent. There’s a 100 percent chance the central bank will raise its overnight cash rate by a quarter-point before the end of the second quarter, according to Bloomberg calculations based on interbank futures on the Sydney Futures Exchange. “The jobs numbers will test the Reserve Bank’s patience about whether they will wait a month or two,” said David de Garis, a senior market economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney. “We believe they will be inclined to wait rather than react to one set of numbers.” Asian Currencies Asian currencies gained after China’s statistics bureau said lending surged to 1.39 trillion yuan ($204 billion) in January and property prices climbed the most in 21 months. South Korea’s won advanced 0.3 percent to 1,156.85 per dollar. China’s inflation rate fell to 1.5 percent last month from 1.9 percent in December, a separate report showed, less than the 2.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Slowing inflation damped speculation Chinese authorities would take more steps to curb growth in the world’s third-largest economy. The euro climbed toward a one-week high against the yen on speculation the European Union will today lay the groundwork for providing financial assistance to help Greece address its ballooning fiscal deficit. Germany and France are leading talks to help Greece under “tough pre-conditions,” Markus Ferber, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc in the European Parliament, said yesterday citing discussions with federal officials. They prefer a bilateral approach over an EU plan, he said. Risk Appetite Rises “Risk appetite has piqued up on the day,” said Sean Callow, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney “Most likely it’s coming from optimism that tonight in Europe we will get some positive news in terms of Greece, that there will be a plan to rescue Greece and save the euro.” The EU initiative was intended to calm what a French official called exaggerated fears in markets over Greece, Spain and Portugal. Prime Minister George Papandreou’s drive to bring Greece’s increasing budget under control was yesterday challenged in the streets as labor unions closed schools, hospitals and flights. Losses in the dollar were tempered as traders added to bets the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs after Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday the central bank may boost its discount rate “before long.” Futures on the Chicago Board of Trade showed a 54 percent chance the Fed will increase its zero to 0.25 percent target lending rate by at least a quarter-percentage point by its September meeting, up from 48 percent odds a day earlier. “Bernanke’s written testimony was positive for the dollar in that it provided better guidance as to what we can expect and watch ahead in terms of tools if not timing,” Brian Kim, a currency strategist in Stamford, Connecticut, at UBS AG, wrote in a note to clients yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Ron Harui in Singapore at rharui@bloomberg.net.

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