$A up as Eurozone pressure eases

On Friday 7 October 2011, 12:46

The Australian dollar gained almost one US cent by noon as global markets rallied after the European Central Bank said it would keep assisting banks to avert a possible credit crunch.
At 1200 AEDT on Friday, the Australian dollar was trading at 97.38 US cents, up from 96.56 cents on Thursday.
Since 0700 AEDT on Friday, the local unit traded between 97.28 US cents and 97.68 cents.
Easy Forex currency dealer Anthony Botros said the Australian dollar could reach 98 centsas an upbeat market anticipated news of strong jobs growth in the US, to be released Friday night Sydney time.
The currency has already been spurred on by positive sentiment flowing from Europe.
Mr Botros said global equity markets had rallied overnight following the announcement by European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet that the bank would continue to assist lenders in a bid to avert a possible credit crunch in the Eurozone.
"We had equity markets rally throughout all parts of the world," Mr Botros said.
"The ASX rallied about three per cent, that kicked on to Europe.
"Wall Street ended in the 1.5 per cent range."
Mr Botros predicted the dollar would trade within a range of 97 up to a possible 98 US cents as it awaited the official measure of US employment growth, due at 2330 AEDT.
The market is forecasting employment growth of about 60,000 jobs in the US.
Mr Botros said anything above that could excite the markets enough to push the Australian dollar back up to parity.
Meanwhile, the Australian bond market was weaker at noon.
At 1200 AEDT on Friday, the December 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 95.735 (implying a yield of 4.265 per cent), down from 95.810 (4.190 per cent) on Thursday.
The December three-year bond futures contract was at 96.420 (3.580 per cent), down from 96.470 (3.530 per cent).

Thursday, 6 October 2011