Oil prices fall nearly three per cent

THE Australian dollar is higher against its US counterpart and is back above 76 US cents, even though the US dollar has firmed slightly.

THE Australian dollar is higher against its US counterpart and is back above 76 US cents, even though the US dollar has firmed slightly. At 0635 AEST on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth 76.02 US cents, up from 75.89 US cents on Friday.

A $US1.80 lift in the iron ore price may have helped support the Aussie currency, but oil prices have fallen close to three per cent. Westpac’s Imre Speizer said the US currency had firmed slightly against a basket of major currencies after mixed payrolls data, showing strong jobs growth but weak wages.

“The US dollar index gained 0.2 per cent on the day,” he said in a Monday morning note.

“(And the) AUD rose from 0.7580 to 0.7610.” Mr Speizer said he did not expected the Australian dollar to move dramatically on Monday. “Probably range-bound between 0.7570 and 0.7630.”

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

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0635 AEST ON MONDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 76.02 US cents, from 75.89 on Friday

* 86.58 Japanese yen, from 86.34 yen

* 66.69 euro cents, from 66.51 euro cents

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

Originally published as Oil prices fall nearly three per cent