Australia dollar gets limited lift from strong jobs data, kiwi calm
SYDNEY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar got limited lift on Thursday from a still-strong jobs report that failed to move the dial on the already limited chance of more policy easing soon, while the kiwi dollar weathered another outsized rate cut extremely well.
The Aussie inched 0.1% higher to $0.6350 AUD=D3, having been little changed for three days now. It has been stuck in a narrow range, with resistance at the February 17 high of $0.6374 and the 100-day moving average of $0.6412.
The employment figures showed the Australian economy added 44,000 new jobs in January, above forecasts of a rise of 20,000. The jobless rate rose to 4.1% as expected, but with a large number of people waiting to start a new job, it is expected to trend lower this month.
"There is very little in the data that suggest the labour market is slackening," said Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting for Oxford Economics Australia.
"These data reinforce that the economy is in an unusual state to receive a rate cut as the labour market remains very tight. More rate cuts are some time away."
The surprisingly strong labour market is one reason that the Reserve Bank of Australia has cautioned against prospects of further policy easing, having just cut interest rates on Tuesday for the first time in more than four years.
Swaps imply just a 10% probability that the RBA will follow up with a cut in April, while pricing in just 40 basis points of policy easing for all of 2025, equivalent to less than two rate cuts. 0#AUDIRPR
The kiwi dollar was also 0.1% higher at $0.5709 NZD=D3, having ended Wednesday largely unchanged as the outsized rate cut from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was mostly priced in. It faces resistance at $0.5750.
In the broad market, the two currencies lost some ground to the yen, which found some support from falling Treasury yields after the Federal Reserve said it was weighing whether or not to slow or pause the run-off in its balance sheets.
The Aussie slipped 0.5% to 95.67 yen AUDJPY=R, the lowest in a week, while the kiwi fell 0.4% to 86.05 yen NZDJPY=R, also one-week low.
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