Australian dollar rallies during Asian trade

On Thursday, the American currency dived a bit, although staying close to multi-month maximums versus the common currency. Yesterday the evergreen buck was underpinned by favorable data on the US labor market, as well as the results of the gathering of the US Federal Reserve.

At the end of the two-day meeting, the US Federal Reserve left interest rates intact. It is still anticipated that the interest rates will be lifted at the next meeting. The Fed management noted the recent strengthening of inflation, which had been forecast for many months, but it didn’t signal the plans to speed up the tempo of rate lifts.

The Australian dollar managed to grow right after the publication of upbeat data on Australia's trade balance.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the trade surplus tacked on to about A$1.53 billion, seasonally updated, which is quite above hopes for A$650 million. It turned out to be the greatest surplus since May the previous year. By the way, in February, the initial balance of trade in A$825 million was updated upward to A$1.35 billion.

Exports leapt by 1% to a record A$34.84 billion seasonally updated, due to steady improvements in all major categories. At the same time imports surged by 1% to $33.314 billion, which was due to a leap in fuel imports by about $416 million, thus reflecting higher crude prices in recent months.

In addition to this, the Bureau of Statistics of Australia informed that the number of building permits tacked on in March by 2.6% after a 4.2% dive in February (updated from 6.2%). On an annual basis, the number of building permits inched up by 14.5% after a 3.1% sag earlier.

The service activity index issued by the Australian Industrial Group headed south to 55.2 in April versus 56.9 in March.