NFP surprise strengthens USD
Major currencies fell to record lows
The RBA policy meeting is the focus
The US dollar continued its strengthening momentum on Tuesday after surging higher following a surprise upbeat US NFP jobs report in January.
The US economy unexpectedly added 517,000 jobs, much better than expectations for an increase of just 193,000 in January and up from the previous reading of 260,000.
Even more surprising is the unemployment rate which also recorded a decrease to 3.4%, missing expectations for an increase of 3.6% from 3.5%.
Average earnings, a measure of wage growth, fell to 0.3% from 0.4%, reflecting expectations that price pressures in the US are easing.
As a result, the US dollar rebounded, seeing the dollar index trade higher against most major currencies at 103.52 in the Asian session.
The shock also saw the euro fall to a 4-week low, while the pound traded at a 5-week low against the greenback.
Meanwhile, the Aussie dollar traded gloomy around 3-week lows with investors' focus now on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) policy meeting today.
The incident involving a Chinese spy balloon that was spotted entering US airspace last week has fueled tensions between the two countries, with investors seeing it as likely to affect market sentiment.
On the other hand, the yen gained some support to rise after Japan's Ministry of Finance quietly confirmed its intervention in the market.
