The Australian dollar rose past 91 US cents to its highest in over 23 years on Friday, boosted by expectations that domestic interest rates were headed up while the Federal Reserve was set to ease monetary policy next week.
The Aussie was also helped by a rally in gold to a 28-year peak and firm prices of commodities like copper and lead. Australia is a big exporter of natural resources and rising commodity prices help boost the country's terms of trade and the Aussie dollar.
"The risks are that the currency could trade above our expected $0.90-91 range into the new year." Financial markets are pricing in an 87 percent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point next month. The benchmark cash rate is already at a decade high of 6.50 percent.
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