CANBERRA: The Australian dollar is firmer as the local share market’s biggest one day gain in almost 18 months boosted demand for risk-driven currencies.
At 1700 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 81.88 US cents, up from 81.35 US cents on Thursday.The currency rose as the local share market posted a third straight day of gains and its best performance since July 2013. That helped risk appetite, which benefits the Australian dollar.
In the absence of anything really negative to come over the last 24 hours, plus with stock markets performing a little bit better, the Aussie’s always going to find a little bit of traction on the upside,’ Easy Forex senior dealer Francisco Solar said. Traders are also squaring their positions on the Australian dollar ahead of Christmas, he added. The currency had fallen on Thursday to a fresh four-and-a-half year low, after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated US interest rates could rise by mid-2015.
