The Australian dollar rebounded on Friday, recouping some of the sharp losses seen earlier this week and reclaiming ground above 91 US cents as profit booking by speculators seemed to run its course. By evening the Aussie was at $0.9161, up from $0.8989 late here on Thursday and within sight of 14-month highs of $0.9330 struck last week.
It had jumped over 2 cents from a three-week low of $0.8942. It also surged against the yen, adding over 2 yen to 83.46 yen from 81.13 yen late on Thursday as unwinding of long positions by Japanese leveraged players ebbed. "This was a much needed correction for the Aussie where a lot of stale long positions got unwound," said Tony Beiber, forex analyst at Suncorp Bank.
"We could see it pop its head above 92 US cents if we get more positive US data later today. Better data would provide a fillip to commodities and stocks and hence the Aussie." The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey for October, the Institute of Supply Management Chicago's October index for manufacturing activity along with US personal income consumption data for October and are data investors will keep an eye.
It will follow data which showed the US economy expanding at a faster than expected pace. The world's largest economy grew at an annualised rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September period, beating forecasts of a 3.3 percent rise and ending a deep slump.
The US dollar, which tends to lose when optimism about a recovery global recovery gain ground, traded below the 76 mark against a basket of currencies and not far from 14-month low of 74.94 struck on October 21. The Aussie extended it impressive gains on the kiwi, rising to its highest in nearly three months at NZ$1.2548.