* Players lock in profits after Aussie jobs data
* Market awaits slew of China data
* RBNZ keeps rates steady, reiterates to hold till mid-year
* Speculation of BOJ loosening monetary policy persists
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - The yen edged up on Thursday,
trimming some of the losses it suffered the previous day, while
the Australian dollar fell on data showing a
smaller-than-expected rise in Australian employment, trimming the
chances of a rate hike next month.
But the Aussie's losses were limited, with market players
still expecting the Australian central bank to raise interest
rates in coming months. Australian employment barely rose in
February as hiring took a breather after a very strong run,
though the jobless rate remained low at 5.3 percent and full-time
employment showed healthy growth. []
"The Australian dollar was faring well despite the
weaker-than-expected headline in Australia's employment number,"
said Hideki Hayashi, a global economist at Mizuho Securities.
"The Australian economy is basically strong and the central
bank is leaning towards raising rates. So the data seems to have
been taken as a factor for profit-taking in the Aussie, but the
market remains in favour of the currency," he said.
The market focus shifted to a slew of Chinese data for
February including consumer inflation data, industrial
production, retail sales and urban fixed-asset investment due on
Thursday, after data showed Chinese exports and imports blew past
expectations the previous day. <ECONCN>
"The focus will especially be China's inflation-related data.
If numbers are too strong, that may increase market speculation
about possible monetary tightening by China and could cap the
upside of high yielders," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
The Australian dollar fell as far as $0.9120 <AUD=D4> before
edging back to $0.9142. The Aussie is not far from a seven-week
high of $0.9193 <AUD=D4> hit on Wednesday, its highest since Jan.
20, according to Reuters data.
Against the yen, the Aussie slipped 0.1 percent to 82.67 yen
<AUDJPY=R>, having risen to a seven-week high of 83.32 yen on
Wednesday.
The New Zealand dollar slipped after the central bank said
there was no urgency to lift rates off their current record lows,
dashing expectations of an early start to rate rises or an
aggressive tightening cycle. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand
(RBNZ) kept interest rates steady at a record low and reaffirmed
plans to hold them there until around the middle of the year.
[] [] T
The kiwi fell 0.3 percent to $0.7002 <NZD=D4>.
The dollar <JPY=> edged down 0.1 percent to 90.43 yen, having
climbed as far as 90.83 on trading platform EBS on Wednesday, its
highest in two weeks.
Gains in the yen were expected to be limited due to ongoing
speculation that the Bank of Japan may ease policy further as it
remains under government pressure to help pull the country out of
grinding deflation. []
The euro was trading around $1.3650 <EUR=>, having risen 0.4
percent on Wednesday. Sterling dipped 0.1 percent to $1.4971
<GBP=D4> after an unexpected drop in British industrial
production data for January released the previous day.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney; Editing by Hugh
Lawson)
