The Aussie dollar has risen amid a bounce on oil prices.
At 0700 AEST on Wednesday, the currency was trading at 73.62 US cents, up from 73.42 cents on Tuesday.
Militant attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria and wildfires in Canada have knocked out about 2.5 million barrels per day in oil output, pushing prices up 2.8% overnight.
The crude price rally lifted other commodities, and helped the Aussie dollar outperform.
BK Asset Management managing director of FX strategy Kathy Lien said investors are now wondering whether commodity currencies have hit a low and are recovering.
‘There’s no doubt that the commodity currencies have fallen quickly and aggressively over the past month but the weekly and monthly charts show plenty of room to the downside,’ she said in a note.
‘Although the bounce in commodity prices (especially oil) is likely to be short-lived, the rise in stocks and broader recovery in risk appetite could have more room to go which would encourage a further recovery in commodity currencies.’
The main local risk events for the Aussie dollar on Wednesday are the Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer confidence survey and lending finance data for April.
At 7am on Wednesday, 11 May one Aussie dollar was buying:
73.62 US cents, from 73.42 cents on Tuesday*
80.45 Japanese yen, from 79.81 yen
64.73 euro cents, from 64.49 cents
108.86 New Zealand cents, 108.72 cents.
50.98 British pence, from 50.93 pence
*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEST previous local session
AAP
