China’s Data Pleasantly Surprises, Aussie Edges Higher

The Australian dollar ticked up, rising against all its most-traded peers, as economic data released today from China was better than traders have anticipated, improving prospects for Australia’s exports.

The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 50.2 in August to 50.5 in September, indicating expansion of the sector. Analysts were concerned ahead of the release that the gauge would fall to 50.0 — the level than indicates neither growth nor decline. The report said that “the picture is mixed”, but “overall the data still point to modest expansion”.

The Australian dollar rose after the data as a worse reading was priced in. Still, the currency remains in a downtrend, falling as much as 4.6 percent against the US dollar this month and being one of the worst performers on the Forex market.

AUD/USD rose from 0.8872 to 0.8911, and AUD/JPY edged up from 96.56 to 96.91 as of 5:28 GMT today. EUR/AUD dropped from 1.4481 to 1.4418.

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