Australian dollar opens to weekly high

The Australian dollar opened almost a cent higher as it broke through the 92 US cent mark to a weekly high after five consecutive positive sessions.
At 0700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.9229/34, up from Friday's close of $US0.9134/37.
During the offshore session, the Unit traded between $US0.9123 and $US0.9229.
Westpac New Zealand market strategist Imre Speizer said the local unit appeared set to carry on, buoyed by positive weekend sentiment.
"It's a continuation of the bullish mood around the Aussie... rather than anything out of the United States," Mr Speizer said from Wellington.
The gains followed the release of higher-than-expected US unemployment figures contained in payrolls data during Friday's offshore session.
Unemployment in the US jumped to double digits in October for the first time since 1983, reaching 10.2 per cent, prompting renewed talk of stimulus for an economy struggling to emerge from recession.
Friday's Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed job losses narrowed last month to 190,000.
But Mr Speizer said there had been mixed leads after the payrolls data were released.
"The US payrolls was the report everyone was looking to provide guidance for risk in general across the board, but it had a mixed result so the equity markets in the States weren't sure what to make of it," he said.
"The price action was very confused. It kind of went down and up, down and up, finishing the session slightly higher, but not by much."
Mr Speizer said commodities remained "solid across the board".
"There was not a clear cut cause and effect out of that US payroll report and the reason is one of the headline numbers, the number of people employed, was better than expected, but only when you factored in revisions, and the second number, the unemployment rate, got worse."
He said there was enough negativity in the report to suggest that should have been negative for risk assets.
"The Aussie itself made a recent high over the last week after five consecutive sessions of gains," he said.
He predicted the Unit would trade during the domestic session between $US0.9150 and $US0.9280.
The outlook for the currency was "bullish" after recent rhetoric from the Reserve bank of Australia and stellar mergers and acquisitions flow, he said.
.businessspectator.com.au

Leaders beg Reserve Bank of Australia to show restraint
A CHORUS of business leaders, led by Aussie chairman John Symond, has pleaded with the Reserve Bank to take baby steps in its push to raise interest rates away from "emergency levels".
A CHORUS of business leaders, led by Aussie chairman John Symond, has pleaded with the Reserve Bank to take baby steps in its push to raise interest rates away from "emergency levels".
The RBA stands to cripple thousands of homeowners if it raises official interest rates too rapidly, in increments of more than 0.25 per cent, or by lifting rates above five per cent within a year, the home loan tsar told business leaders in Sydney yesterday, The Daily Telegraph reports.
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/

First-home buyers brace for rate pain
THOUSANDS of first-home buyers are tipped to default on their mortgages if the Reserve Bank raises interest rates on Cup Day.
The expected rate rise comes after a bank boss admitted profit margins on loans would increase, and leaked documents from another bank showed staff were under pressure to push more credit on to customers.
It also comes despite last week's falls on world sharemarkets, prompted by fears over the continued weakness of the US economy and the global financial system.
New research by analysts Fujitsu Consulting, seen by the Sunday Herald Sun, concluded the number of Australians who defaulted on mortgage payments would rise from 25,000 to 40,000 by the end of 2010.

Dollar down on weaker Wall St

THE dollar has started lower today as weak economic data in the US reduced demand for assets such as equities and commodity-based currencies.
At 7am AEST, the dollar was trading at $US0.7231/36, down from yesterday's close of $US0.7244/47.
During the offshore session, the unit traded between $US0.7235 and $US0.7300.
Markets were weaker after retail sales and wholesale inflation in the US fell unexpectedly during March, and tempered thoughts of a recovery in the American economy.
The US Department of Commerce said retail sales dropped 1.1 per cent, the biggest fall in three months.
It was weaker than the market's forecast of a 0.3 per cent rise in the month.
Wholesale prices fell 1.2 per cent as the cost of fuel, other energy products and food dropped, the US Department of Labour said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.71 per cent, while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 2.01 per cent. .news.com.au

Aussie dollar steadies after dip; bonds edge up

SYDNEY, April 15 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar steadied on Wednesday after weaker stocks and commodities dragged it back from six-month highs highs against the yen and the U.S. dollar.
* Optimism about a global economic recovery that had boosted demand for commodity currencies earlier this week ebbed, with disappointing U.S. retail sales data providing a stark reminder about the economy's weakness. [ID:nN14451267]
* By 9:45 a.m., the Aussie was at $0.7235 against the U.S. dollar, off a six-month high of $0.7328 struck on Monday, and down 0.6 percent from late here on Tuesday.
* Still, the currency found solid support aorund 72 U.S. cents, keeping its six-week uptrend in place for now.
* The Aussie also eased against the yen as falling stock markets led investors to pare positions in high-yielding currencies. The Aussie was at 71.65 yen , down 1.2 percent from Tuesday when it scaled a six-month high..ninemsn.com.au

Buy Australia Dollar, Norway’s Krone, Royal Bank of Canada Says

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Investors should bet the Australian dollar will gain against New Zealand’s as the bigger nation’s central bank has been more effective in lowering borrowing costs, Royal Bank of Canada said.
Investors should also purchase Norway’s krone against Sweden’s currency for similar reasons, the bank said.
“The Reserve Bank of Australia and Norges Bank are much further ahead of the curve in loosening policy than their regional counterparts,” wrote Adam Cole, global head of currency strategy in London at Royal Bank of Canada.
Australia’s currency slipped 1.1 percent to NZ$1.2248 as of 5:34 p.m. in Sydney from NZ$1.2380 late in New York yesterday. The Swedish krona traded at 1.2266 per Norwegian krone from 1.2239 yesterday.

Aussie drops to 0.7129 against US dollar and 0.8850 against Canadian dollar

(RTTNews) - Aussie drops to 0.7129 against US dollar and 0.8850 against Canadian dollar