Australian dollar reachers lowest level since 2010

THE Australian dollar has dropped to its lowest level in almost five years, trading at 80.85 US cents, down from 81.37 cents on Friday.

Generic photo of an Australian dollar coin .. Aussie one dollar coins, on a twenty dollar note.

THE Australian dollar has dropped to its lowest level in almost five years.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local currency was trading at 80.85 US cents, down from 81.37 cents on Friday.

The Australian dollar fell as low as 80.71 US cents in overnight trade, its lowest level since May 2010.

Bank of New Zealand strategist Kymberly Martin said a combination of weak commodity prices and a surging US dollar were weighing on the local currency.

“It’s not specific to the Australian dollar,” Ms Martin said. “The key theme in the new year has been US dollar strength and that has been represented in declines in most other currencies. So, the Australian dollar seems to be simply suffering from that rather than any specific data.

“We also continue to see quite significant falls in general commodity prices and that’s not a particularly supportive backdrop for the Aussie dollar either.”

Currency snapshot at 0700 AEDT on Monday

One Australian dollar buys:

* 80.85 US cents, from 81.37 cents on Friday

* 97.32 Japanese yen, from 98.00 yen

* 67.35 euro cents, from 67.51 euro cents

* 105.14 New Zealand cents, from 104.93 NZ cents

* 52.73 British pence, from 52.34 pence

One euro buys:

* 120.04 US cents, from 120.51 cents

* 144.45 Japanese yen, from 145.15 yen

One US dollar buys:

* 120.36 Japanese yen, from 120.45 yen

(*Closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Source: IRESS

Originally published as Australian dollar reachers lowest level since 2010