The Australian dollar is slightly higher in Asian trading after a round of local data hit the market above expectations.
At 3.29pm (AEDT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US73.01c up US72.96c in yesterday’s trading.
The latest imports figure released from the bureau of statistics out of Australia came in at -1 percent, unchanged from last month, while the exports figure showed a reading of 1 percent, well up on last month’s figure of -0.5 percent.
The trade balance figures also surprised to the upside, coming in at -$2,973m against analyst’s expectations for a figure of -$3,100m.
The Australian dollar has rebounded strongly since last Friday, racking up 3 days of consecutive gains, but may run into headwinds around the US73c mark as traders await key data out of the US later today, including Markit services PMI, as well as ISM non-manufacturing PMI numbers.
Yesterday’s ADP employment change from the US came in at 214k against expectations for a figure of 190k, which sets the stage for a strong nonfarm payrolls figure tomorrow.
This number is seen as one of the catalysts for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month, so a good performance is likely to see the Aussie dollar come under pressure.