High commodities, US data push dollar up

DOLLAR opens almost one US cent higher, following the release of a raft of US economic data and high commodity prices.

THE dollar has opened almost one US cent higher, following the release of a raft of US economic data and high commodity prices.

At 7.00am (AEDT), the local unit was trading at 101.25 US cents, up from 100.30 cents yesterday.

Since 5.00pm (AEDT) yesterday, the dollar traded between 100.20 cents and 101.50 US cents.

HiFX senior trader Stuart Ives said economic data from the US overnight weakened the greenback and attracted investment into the Australian dollar.

"US jobs data came in weaker than expected and obviously signifies a slightly weaker dollar off the back of it," Mr Ives said.

"Also, a little bit of a surprise was US core CPI, which rose by 0.1 per cent."

Rising commodity prices also have helped keep the local unit up, Mr Ives said.

"We've seen gold get elevated overnight, silver hit a 31-year high and oil slightly higher.

"All of those commodities are getting pushed higher due to the situation in the Middle East."

In the absence of any major local or regional economic data, Mr Ives expected the dollar to trade sideways on Friday, between 1000.20 US cents and 101.50 US cents.