Ella 
In Asia on Thursday, the AUD/JPY ended its three-day winning streak and was trading around 103.00. AUD/JPY crosses lower amid mixed employment data from Australia on Thursday.
Seasonally adjusted employment changes in April released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia’s employed population increased by 38,500 to 14.3 million. That topped market expectations of 23,700, reversing a slight decline in March. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% from 3.9% previously. This is the highest unemployment rate since January, with the number of unemployed rising by 30,300 to 604,200.
Elsewhere, Australia’s 10-year government bond yield moved lower to around 4.2% after Australia’s wage price index rose 0.8% in the first quarter (quarterly rate), but was slightly below expectations of 0.9%. These data support the Reserve Bank of Australia maintaining a dovish outlook on monetary policy.
In Japan, Japan’s first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was lower than expected, which weakened the rise of the Japanese yen (JPY) and limited the decline of the AUD/JPY cross.
Japan’s first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at an initial quarterly rate of -0.5%, while the previous value was not revised downwards. Market expectations were -0.4%. Gross domestic product recorded an annualized rate of -2.0%, beating expectations of -1.5%. The previous reading was revised downward to show no growth, recording 0%.
Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Yoshitaka Shindo said the economy is expected to maintain a moderate recovery. However, Shindo stressed the need to pay close attention to risks related to foreign exchange fluctuations, which have the potential to push up domestic prices.
