The Australian dollar clawed back losses on Friday after a bout of buying late in the day helped put it on track for weekly gains for the sixth straight week. Some dealers said the Aussie's late bounce was sparked by a comment from a G20 draft communique that stimulus measures to foster economic growth would stay until a strong recovery is seen.
"The comments caught the market out as they were looking for continued US dollar buying. The moves were a bit of a positioning," said Philip Burke, a trader at J.P. Morgan. The Aussie recovered to $0.8693, from an intra-day low of $0.8608, with some traders saying the bounce was exaggerated by stop-losses being taken out at around $0.8670.
The Aussie was up 0.25 percent on the week, though still a off a 13-month peak of $0.8790 hit Wednesday. Charts point to further near-term weakness, with a downward MACD signal in place for the first time in three weeks.