The Australian dollar staged a recovery from 18-month lows on Thursday, darting above 71 US cents as investors caught short by a sharp slide this week covered their positions.
It retained a downward bias, weighed down by a diminishing yield advantage over the United States, euro zone and Japan. But a slight widening in Australia-US yield spreads off multi-year lows offered the currency some relief.
One Aussie dollar bought $0.7101/04. It traded a $0.7061-$0.7110 range, lifting off Wednesday's 18-month low of $0.7015.