Australian dollar jumps on China data, stable pound ahead of Brexit votes

LONDON (Reuters) – The euro has held on Monday above a three-week low, while the improved activity of factories in China has heightened the climate of mind, the Australian dollar ahead of nearly 0.5%.

Investors are looking at economic data this week looking for signs of an economic slowdown in Europe, while key Brexit votes imply further volatility in the pound.

Risk appetite increased after China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) revealed Sunday that factory activity unexpectedly rose in March for the first time in four months.

The positive results pushed the Australian dollar, often considered an indirect indicator of the Chinese economic outlook, up 0.4% to 0.7126 USD.

The Chinese yuan gained a quarter of a percent of offshore trade at $ 6.707 per dollar.

Traders have prepared for a series of economic data to show that the eurozone economy was unresolved, with inflation, unemployment and manufacturing PMIs largely stable compared to their previous results .

The euro has struggled near the lows of the last three weeks, at $ 1.1210, touched on Friday. The single currency was up 0.1% at $ 1.1232.

"We think that the euro is cheap. But unless there is a significant revaluation of growth prospects in Europe, it's hard to see a rally either, "said ING badysts in a note addressed to customers.

The quest for an end to the Brexit impbade continues Monday night as UK lawmakers vote on alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement with the EU.

The two most widely supported solutions are to keep Great Britain in a customs union with the European Union and to ensure that the result is validated by a second referendum – both of which are anathema to a large part of the EU. Conservative party of May.

The pound sterling has reached a high of 1.3060 dollar, still within the range of the low reached for three weeks Friday, at 1.2977 dollar, and not far from the low of last month, or 1.2945 dollar.

The greenback rose 0.4% to 124.79 yen, extending its lead from its lowest level in a month and a half to 109.70 a week earlier at 1.3%.

Positive risk sentiment helped boost emerging market currencies.

The Mexican peso gained 0.35% to 19.364 dollars per dollar, while the South African rand rose 0.8% to 14.395 dollars per dollar.

The Turkish lira fell by more than 1% to 5.6158 to the dollar after AKP's ruling party of President Tayyip Erdogan lost control of the capital Ankara for the first time in a local election.