Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, while the New Zealand dollar moved lower after data showed that China’s imports dropped far more than expected last month and as the greenback remained supported by Friday’s strong U.S. jobs data.
AUD/USD was little changed at 0.7614.
The greenback rallied after the Labor Department said on Friday that the U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs last month, well above expectations for 180,000.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9%, as more people entered the labor market.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose month-on-month by 0.3%, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain. They were up 2.6% on the year.
The upbeat data reignited speculation that the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates this year.
NZD/USD slid 0.39% to trade ar 0.7114, the lowest since July 29.
Earlier Monday, data showed that China’s imports declined by 12.5% in July, compared to expectations for a 7.0% drop. Exports fell by 4.4% last month, compared to expectations for a 3.0% fall.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.19, close to Friday’s one-week high of 96.50.