The Australian dollar held firm near 24-year highs on Wednesday, bouyed by a rebound in consumer sentiment and expectations of robust inflows from mergers and acquisitions, though fresh risk aversion capped gains. The Aussie was at $0.9588/90 against the US dollar, marginally up from $0.9582/85 late here on Tuesday and just off a 24-year high of $0.9619 in offshore trade.
The local currency has gained nearly 9 percent so far this year, helped by a hefty interest rate advantage over the United States, firm commodity prices and improving appetite for high-yielding currencies.