The Australian dollar has been boosted by stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data.

At 0700 AEST on Friday, the local unit was trading at 90.08 US cents, up from 89.98 cents on Thursday.

The Aussie on Thursday got a boost by a better-than-expected result in the HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which came in at a four-month high.

HSBC’s PMI for China’s manufacturing sector jumped to 50.1 in August, up from July’s 11-month low of 47.7.

Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said the Chinese data helped the Aussie to shrug off some doom and gloom, and to make gains against the US dollar.

“The Aussie has taken its queues from some encouraging global manufacturing data, in particular, yesterday’s China PMI which shows that China’s growth seems to be stabilised around the 7.5 per cent target that the Chinese administration have outlined,” Jones said.

“Those signs of stabilisation in Chinese growth have tended to bolster commodity prices and the Aussie dollar, given Australia’s clear links to China.

“The Aussie was actually one of the few currencies to appreciate against the US dollar overnight and we can trace most of that back to the Chinese PMI.”

AAP