Aussie dollar down ahead of US payroll data

THE Australian dollar has fallen slightly on a strong US currency.

THE Australian dollar has fallen slightly on a strong US currency.

At 1200 AEST today, the local unit was trading at 102.75 US cents, down from 102.98 at Thursday's close.

Since 0700 AEST today, the Australian dollar has traded between 102.57 US cents and 102.77 cents.

CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the local currency had moved lower on market movements in response to better-than-expected jobless data in the US.

"Although weakness earlier in the week was about domestic interest rates, the softness we've seen overnight relates to a stronger US dollar,'' he said.

"We got a read on initial jobless claims that was better than expected, and although we're talking about different periods, the market seems to have jumped to the conclusion that that could mean that non-farm payrolls to be announced tonight will be stronger than expected.

"We saw the US dollar strengthen across the board, and that pushed the Aussie dollar below 103 (US cents).''

The market is predicting that an additional 175,000 jobs were added in April in non-farm payroll figures, after a weak reading of 120,000 in March.

Meanwhile, Australian bond future prices were mixed at noon.

At 1200 AEST on Friday, the June 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.480 (implying a yield of 3.520 per cent), unchanged from Thursday's close.

The June three-year bond futures contract was at 97.130 (2.870 per cent), slightly down from 97.150 (2.850 per