In a market environment that is still mixed towards the end of this week, the US dollar currency is seen showing a re-strengthening compared to several major currencies such as the Euro and Yen in the New York session yesterday.
After a gloomy move earlier, the US dollar regained strength as the 10-year US Treasury yield surged to a 16-year high, surpassing the 4.90% mark.
Based on the fundamental factors of the central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is seen to be still in the phase to tighten monetary policy, but the market's focus is currently also directed at the unrest in the Middle East which could have an impact on the global market.
The previously turbulent market sentiment was eased slightly with Chinese economic data published yesterday recording encouraging readings for several key components including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), industrial production and retail sales.
European currencies again experienced a decline as predicted by analysts regarding the risk.
The Australian dollar continued its plunge in the Asian session this morning (Thursday) with the focus being on the Australian jobs report that has been published.
Employment growth in Australia in September was very slow with a figure of just 6,700 recorded, lower than the forecast of 20,6000. While the unemployment rate slightly improved, dropping to 3.6% compared to forecasts to remain at 3.7%.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar is observed to have fallen lower than the US dollar to the lowest level since November last year.
In the commodity market, crude oil prices stabilized for a while after showing a surge with US WTI oil hovering around $87.00 per barrel and Brent oil at $90.00 per barrel.
Gold trading continued to maintain excellence throughout the week with the latest price increase yesterday reaching $1,962 per ounce, an 11-week high.
