CANBERRA:The Australian dollar weakened on the first trading day of 2015 as the greenback gained strength from a faltering euro. At 1700 AEDT on Friday, the Australian dollar was trading at 81.37 US cents, down from 81.93 cents on New Year’s Eve.
The local currency dropped from 81.72 US cents, minutes before noon, to 81.31 cents within little more than half an hour.National Australia Bank chief markets economist Ivan Colhoun said the Australian dollar fell as the euro hit its weakest point against the greenback since July 2012, which saw the US dollar rise against a series of currencies.It’s more … US dollar strength and euro weakness,” he said.
Traders overseas are also squaring up their positions on the greenback in anticipation of strong American economic data, and the prospect of a US interest rate rise in 2015.
The view for the year is to be long US dollars,” Mr Colhoun said.He predicted the Australian dollar could touch 78 US cents by the end of 2015, which would put the currency marginally above Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens’s wish for it to trade at 75 US cents.
He’d be quite happy about that,” Mr Colhoun said.At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 98 Japanese yen, down from Wednesday’s close of 98.08 yen, and at 67.51 euro cents, up from 67.40 euro cents.Meanwhile, the bond market weakened on as investors prepared for a strong set of US manufacturing numbers for December from the Institute for Supply Management.
