Dollar higher on better equities, sentiment

THE dollar has continued to climb higher, on positive commentary from the euro zone and China.

THE dollar has continued to climb higher, on positive commentary from the euro zone and China.

At 5pm (AEST) today, the dollar was trading at 99.20 US cents, up from 98.36 cents yesterday.

From 7am, the local currency traded between 98.90 US cents and 99.32 cents.

On Friday the local currency went as low as 97.95 US cents, its lowest since November 29 against the US dollar.

CMC markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer said Australian markets had developed a more optimistic sentiment on Tuesday, following improved political and economic commentary.

"The move upwards coincided with the move higher in local equity markets, thanks to a better sentiment regarding the European situation," he said.

"Another support for the Australian dollar today was better rumblings out of China in terms of the government over there introducing some measures to push growth.

"This means fast-tracking some measures that were due out last year - that lifted our mining stocks on the ASX 200, and the Australian dollar got a boost also."

However, Mr Waterer warned that the sentiment might not last, unless the market received more concrete news from the euro zone.

"There was a lot of panicked selling in the last week about a Greek exit and the ramifications of that," he said.

"It's become a bit more subdued, now that we're getting a more unified voice from Europe, with a few key parties saying that Greece is likely to stay in the euro zone."