Dollar up more than one cent against greenback

THE Australian dollar has surged against its US counterpart following the Federal Reserve’ interest rate rise.

THE Australian dollar has surged against its US counterpart, lifting more than a cent to close to 77 US cents, as the greenback falls following the Federal Reserve’ interest rate rise.

At 0635 AEDT on Thursday, the Australian dollar was worth 76.94 US cents, up sharply from 75.71 US cents on Wednesday.

Westpac’s Imre Speizer said the Fed’s Federal Open Markets Committee lifted the US central bank’s interest rate a quarter of a per cent, as anticipated, but its accompanying statement was not as hawkish as the market had expected.

“The (US) dollar index is down one per cent, most of the fall occurring after the FOMC,” Mr Speizer said in a note on Thursday morning.

“The statement does not appear to portray a significant hawkish shift: risks are still ‘roughly balanced’, the outlook is for ‘moderate growth’, and the rates guidance calls for gradualism — all bedrock comments that the Fed has stuck with for some time now.”

The local currency is also up against the yen and the euro.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0635 AEDT ON THURSDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 76.94 US cents, from 75.71 on Wednesday

* 87.29 Japanese yen, from 86.92 yen

* 71.93 euro cents, from 71.30 euro cents

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

Originally published as Dollar up more than one cent against greenback