The Australian dollar erased its earlier losses versus the Japanese yen and rose against the US dollar (though it slipped back later) as the data showed an expansion of China’s manufacturing sector.
Markit/HSBC China’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 50.5 in November to 51.5 in December, the highest level since May 2011. A reading above 50.0 indicates expansion. Previously, the private index was contradicting the government data as one was showing contraction, while another was insisting on improvement. Now both show that China’s manufacturing expands.
AUD/USD traded near its opening of 1.0366 as of 12:02 GMT today, following the earlier rally to 1.0407. AUD/JPY was at 89.30 after falling from 89.20 to 88.75.
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