The Australian dollar slipped after the resource-sensitive currency came under pressure from declining commodity prices.
At the local close, the dollar was trading at $US0.9016, down from Wednesday’s close of $US0.9051.
Since 7am, the local unit traded between $US0.9011 and $US0.9063.
CMC Markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer said the unit was under sustained pressure throughout the day as the price of gold declined.
‘‘There’s been some profit-taking on gold, which fell of its overnight highs,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s seen commodity-related currencies lose as well, such as the Aussie dollar.’’
Gold has lost around $US8 since a six-week high of $US1144 during Wednesday’s offshore trade. During Thursday’s session the precious metal climbed $US1.75 to $US1,135.70 per fine ounce.
He said the local unit quickly climbed, then lost 20 basis points after the publication of data showing Australia’s trade deficit narrowed in January.
The balance of goods and services posted a deficit of $1.176 billion in January, seasonally adjusted, from a downwardly revised deficit of $2.174 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
Most market forecasts were centered around a deficit of between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion.
Mr Waterer said the local dollar wasn’t able to sustain its gains because investors were anticipating US non-farm payroll employment data on Friday night (AEDT).
The market is pricing in a loss of 50,000 jobs in the US for February.
Mr Waterer said the unit would would trade in line with US stocks during the offshore session and could hit a high of $US0.9090.
