(RTTNews) - During early deals on Monday, the Australian dollar traded higher against its major counterparts as a rise in stock market encouraged investors to buy higher-yielding currencies.
The Aussie thus rose to new multi-week highs against the currencies of US and Canada, a 10-day high against the European currency and a 1-week high versus the Japanese yen.
The Australian stock market closed sharply higher today, reversing Friday's 1.2% losses, as oil producers surged on talk of a potential takeover bid for Santos and banks gained on bargain hunting. A rebound in crude prices also boosted the oil sector. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 141.7 points, or 4.1% to 3,631.6 and the broader All Ordinaries index gained 126.6 points, or 3.7%, to 3,553.8.
On the economic front, ANZ reported that total job advertisements in Australia were down 8.6 percent in November compared to October, following a 5.9 percent monthly decline in the previous month. On an annual basis, total job ads plummeted 18.6 percent.
During early deals on Monday, the Australian dollar traded higher against the US currency. At 2:10 am ET, the Aussie-dollar pair reached a high of 0.6624, compared to 0.6475 hit late New York Friday. This set the highest point for the pair since November 14, 2008. If the pair gains further, 0.675 is seen as the next target level.
The Australian dollar that closed Friday's North American session at 1.9665 against the European currency climbed to a 10-day high of 1.9397 at 2:10 am ET Monday. On the upside, 1.929 is seen as the next target level for the Australian currency.
The Australian currency showed strength against the Japanese yen during today's early deals. At 2:10 am ET, the Aussie-yen pair hit a 1-week high of 61.52, compared to Monday's closing value of 60.16. The next upside target level for the pair is seen around 63.7.
Japan's unadjusted current account surplus was down 56.6 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Finance said on today, standing at 960.5 billion yen. That came in below analyst expectations that predicted a 50 percent decline, and it also marked the eighth straight month of surplus contraction. The current account surplus was 1497.9 billion yen in September and 2206.5 billion yen in October 2007.
