Dollar up on ECB comments

THE dollar has risen after ECB president Mario Draghi said he would take any steps necessary to save the euro zone.

THE dollar has risen on comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, who said he would take any steps necessary to save the euro zone.

At 12pm AEST today, the dollar was trading at 103.99 US cents, up from 103.39 at yesterday's close.

IG Markets institutional trader Chris Weston said the dollar was one of the best performing currencies overnight, in response to the ECB comments.

"The Australian dollar looks incredibly robust, even given that it's had quite a lot thrown at it," he said. "Along with the Kiwi dollar, it's a currency which is very much in focus at the moment."

The next event on the horizon would be US gross domestic product (GDP) data due today, which could influence the possibility of financial stimulus by the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

"If we get a number below one per cent, that will feed into the idea that we are going to get something in terms of QE3 (quantitative easing)," Mr Weston said.

"The Australian dollar will probably fall immediately if we get a weak number, but it could rise later on the back of expectations for QE3."

However, Mr Weston said he thought easing would be brought in until the FOMC's September, rather than August meeting.

Meanwhile, Australian bond prices were lower at noon.

At 12pm AEST today, the September 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.200 (implying a yield of 2.800 per cent), down from 97.265 (2.735 per cent) at yesterday's close.

The September three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.710 (2.290 per cent), down from 97.800 (2.200 per cent).