By CountingPips.com
A busy news day today was highlighted by the interest rate decisions coming from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank and as widely expected, both central banks held their respective rates steady.
The Bank of England announced the decision to maintain its interest rate at its lowest standing in the bank’s history at 0.50 percent. The BOE had last reduced its interest rate by 50 basis points on March 5th and also cut its rate by the same amount in each of January and February. The notable news from the bank statement today was that 
its members “voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £175 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves” that was first announced on March 5th and that the program will be completed in another month.
The European Central Bank, meanwhile, also held its interest rate today at its lowest standing in the banks history as widely expected. The ECB last reduced its interest rate by 25 basis points on May 7th to its current level of 1.00 percent. The ECB also had reduced the rate in April by 25 basis points and by 50 basis points in March.
Jean-Claude Trichet, the President of the ECB, commented on the economy and the interest rate in his press conference today saying that, “The current rates remain appropriate. The incoming information and analyses since our last meeting in early September have confirmed our previous assessment. While annual HICP inflation was still slightly negative in September, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, it is expected to turn positive again in the coming months and to remain at moderately positive rates over the policy-relevant horizon. At the same time, the latest information further supports our view that the euro area economy is stabilising and is expected to recover at a gradual pace.”
Australian employment jumps
Released early today was positive job numbers out of Australia by the Reserve Bank of Australia. September employment increased by 40,600 workers after a revised decline of 26,100 workers in August. This job increase was the largest gain in two years and surpassed forecasts expecting a decline of 10,000 for the month. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percent to 5.7 percent.
US Jobless Claims fall
In some positive U.S. news, new weekly jobless claims fell by 33,000 workers in the week ending on October 3rd to a total of 521,000 claims. This beat forecasts expecting a decline to 541,000 workers after a revised 554,000 workers filed claims the week prior. The 4-week moving average declined by 9,000 workers to an average of 539,750 workers.
Workers seeking continuing jobless benefits also declined in the week ending September 26th by 72,000 workers. The 4-week moving average fell by 15,750 to a total of 6,144,250 workers.
US Dollar declines in Fx Trading as Stocks, Oil, Gold rise
The US dollar fell against most of the other major currencies in forex trading today. The American currency has declined versus the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Australian dollar and Swiss franc while increasing versus the Japanese yen at 4:33pm EDT in the US trading session.
The stock markets, meanwhile, gained ground today as the Dow Jones rose by 61.29 points, the Nasdaq increased 13.60 points and the S&P 500 showed a 7.90 point gain. Oil has traded higher by $1.80 to $71.37 while gold rose to a new alltime high above $1,060.00 an ounce before settling in at the $1055.90 per ounce level for a daily gain of $12.60.
AUD/USD Chart – The Australian dollar continuing its ascent versus the US dollar in forex trading as the Aussie reached a new yearly high today at the 0.9090 level.
