Dollar higher on Greek deal

DOLLAR up after euro zone finance ministers agreed to unlock loans to Greece and ease some of its debt burden.

THE Australian dollar is higher after euro zone finance ministers agreed to unlock loans to Greece and ease some of its debt burden.

At 12pm AEDT today, the currency was trading at 104.87 US cents, up from 104.53 cents yesterday afternoon.

ANZ foreign exchange strategist Andrew Salter said the currency jumped higher after euro zone finance ministers agreed to slice 40 billion euros ($50.00 billion) of Greece's long-term debt burden and free up long-blocked loans to the country.

"I think this amounts to a reasonably favourable outcome that suggests that the ECB (European Central Bank) IMF (International Monetary Fund) and EU (European Union) are supporting the rebalancing of the Greek economy and the repayment of Greek debt," Mr Salter said.

Mr Salter said the dollar was likely to rally past 105 US cents over the next day or so.

"I think it's a positive for the Australian dollar and we will go higher from here," he said. "I think this is good for another half a cent over the next 24 to 48 hours."

Meanwhile, Australian bond futures prices were unchanged at noon. At 12pm AEDT today, the December 10-year bond futures contract was at 96.815 (implying a yield of 3.185 per cent), the same level as yesterday afternoon. The December three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.290 (2.710 per cent), unchanged from yesterday.