Aussie dollar maintains its rise

THE dollar has maintained its six-week high with the release of domestic terms of trade data doing little to halt momentum.

Australian dollar

THE Australian dollar has maintained its six-week high against the greenback with the release of domestic terms of trade data doing little to halt momentum.

At midday AEST today, the Australian dollar was trading at 104.17 US cents, up from 103.93 yesterday.

National Australian Bank (NAB) currency strategist Emma Lawson said the Aussi e dollar continued to react to news out of the US.

"It (the dollar's movement) has slowed during the morning trading session, and with not a lot of new information, the Aussie has drifted a little bit below the highs reached overnight,'' Ms Lawson said.

Overnight, weaker-than-expected US jobs data prompted renewed speculation the Federal Reserve may move to stimulate the world's l argest economy.

The US Labor Department reported 386,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending July 14, an almo st 10 per cent increase from the prior week's upwardly revised figure and well above expectations of a rise to 365,000.

Local terms of trade data today prompted the Australian dollar to dip briefly.

But analysts still expect it to trade strongly in afternoon trading.

"The market took it in its stride. This data is not really something that the market focuses on in an int ra-day process. But, it is important in long-term economic outlooks,'' Ms Lawson said.

Meanwhile, the Aussie remains strong against the euro, trading at 84.98 euro cents at midday AEST on today.

The local currency reached 84.56 euro cents yesterday, i ts highest point since the euro began trading in 1999.