Aussie dollar gets Bannon bounce

THE Australian dollar is up sharply against its US counterpart back above 79 US cents amid a slight rebound in risk appetite.

THE Australian dollar is up sharply against its US counterpart back above 79 US cents amid a slight rebound in risk appetite following US President Donald Trump’s firing of controversial Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

At 0635 AEST on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth 79.20 US cents, up from 78.96 US cents on Friday.

Westpac’s Imre Speizer said the US dollar had moved sideways during Friday’s session before closing lower.

“The US dollar index ranged sideways and closed the day down 0.2 per cent. (while the) AUD rose from 0.7980 to 0.7944.,” he said in a Monday morning note. He expected the Australian dollar to find support around the 79 US cent mark on Monday.

The local currency was also higher against the yen and the euro.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0635 AEST ON MONDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 79.29 US cents, from 78.96 on Friday

* 86.74 Japanese yen, from 86.17 yen

* 67.43 euro cents, from 67.29 euro cents

(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEST previous local session)

Originally published as Aussie dollar gets Bannon bounce