Wednesday 11 July 2012

Aussie dollar higher after quiet morning





  • AAP 
  • July 11, 2012 1:18pm


    THE Australian dollar was slightly higher at noon following a quiet morning trading session.

    At midday AEST the Australian dollar was trading at 101.97 US cents, up from 101.86 US cents yesterday.

    Overnight, the currency rose as high as 102.46 US cents on news eurozone finance ministers would provide Spain €30 billion ($A36.41 billion) to aid its crippled banking system.

    However, it later lost ground as US stock markets moved into the red early this morning (Australian time) led by a one per cent fall in the US tech-heavy NASDAQ.

    Easy Forex currency dealer Anthony Botros said the currency traded in a tight range during today's local session as markets digested the impact of yesterday's weaker than expected Chinese import figures and the Spanish bailout.
  • He said the market was likely to remain quiet during the afternoon session.
    However, he said the currency could fall below parity with its US counterpart later in the week, following the release of Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) figures on Friday.
    "All eyes are on Friday's GDP numbers coming out of China, and there is some speculation that the data will come in on the softer side," Mr Botros said.
    "This could be a catalyst for pushing the Aussie dollar towards parity or even below."
    Meanwhile, Australian bond future prices were steady at noon.
    At midday AEST today, the September 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.100 (implying a yield of 2.900 per cent), slightly lower than 97.105 (2.895) per cent yesterday.
    The September three-year bond futures contract was unchanged at 97.700 (2.300 per cent).