Australian dollar up on more greenback weakness

MORE hints from the US central bank of a late interest rate hike have weighed on the US dollar and given the Australian currency a boost.

MORE hints from the US central bank of a late interest rate hike have weighed on the US dollar and given the Australian currency a boost.

At 0700 AEDT on Tuesday, the Australian dollar was worth 78.92 US cents, up from 78.10 US cents, on Monday.

The US dollar weakened overnight for two reasons, one being more indications from the US Federal Reserve that it won’t lift rates until later in 2015, OMF’s senior foreign exchange client adviser Stuart Ive said.

He said the second reason was an upbeat European monetary policy testimony from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi to a European parliamentary committee overnight.

“The ECB president gave a more upbeat rundown of the European Union,” he said.

“There was also a trio of Fed speakers overnight who really didn’t add anything new but again pointed towards a September rate rise.

“This has led to a general US dollar weakness. Commodities have rallied on the back of that as well as the Australian dollar.” Key data expected to impact on the local unit’s value is HSBC’s Chinese flash manufacturing purchasing managers index out later on Tuesday.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0700 AEDT ON TUESDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 78.92 US cents, from 78.10 cents on Monday

* 94.50 Japanese yen, from 93.62 yen

* 71.98 euro cents, from 72.23 euro cents

* 102.92 New Zealand cents, from 102.38 NZ cents

* 52.73 British pence, from 52.29 pence (*Closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session) Source: IRESS

Originally published as Australian dollar up on more greenback weakness