SINGAPORE, July 20 Reuters The Australian dollar surged on Thursday after the country39;s employment data far outpaced market expectations, while the yuan marched higher after China39;s monetary authorities ramped up efforts to defend its weakening currency.

Australia employment handily beat expectations for a second straight month in June, figures on Thursday showed, as net employment rose by 32,600 from May, exceeding market forecasts for an increase of 15,000.

Its jobless rate also held near 50year lows, in a show of labour market resilience that could risk further rate rises by the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA.

That boosted the Aussie and sent it spiking nearly 1 to an intraday high of 0.6840 in Asia trade, taking the New Zealand dollar along with it.

The kiwi was last 0.63 higher at 0.6303, with both Antipodean currencies on track to reverse four straight sessions of losses.

The Australian dollar has spiked higher across the board after the economy delivered another ratehike defying report, said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.

Ultimately, it39;s another strong set of employment figures which keeps the pressure on a datadependant Reserve Bank of Australia to potentially hike rates in August.

In Asia, China left its lending benchmarks unchanged on Thursday, as expected, though its central bank said in a statement it raised a parameter on crossborder corporate financing under its macroprudential assessments to 1.5 from 1.25. The ratio…