Dollar treads water against US

THE Australian dollar is treading water against its US counterpart as the greenback falls to a six-week low against a basket of currencies.

THE Australian dollar is treading water against its US counterpart as the greenback falls to a six-week low against a basket of currencies but the local central bank minutes fail to shed fresh light on its likely moves.

At 0635 AEDT on Wednesday, the Australian dollar was worth 77.05 US cents, up marginally from 77.02 US cents on Tuesday.

US investors appear to be worried that President Donald Trump will struggle to deliver promised tax cuts.

On Tuesday, the US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dipped below the 100 level for the first time since February 7.

The greenback has been under pressure after comments from the Federal Reserve last week disappointed dollar bulls.

Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note, said the Australian dollar was trading with a slightly softer bias. “(But it was) mostly consolidating after rallying back through the past ceiling around $0.7700. The minutes of this month’s Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting failed to shed fresh light.”

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0635 AEDT ON WEDNESDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 77.05 US cents, from 77.02 on Tuesday

* 86.11 Japanese yen, from 86.88 yen

* 71.27 euro cents, from 71.58 euro cents

(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Originally published as Dollar treads water against US