The Australian dollar has ended the local session at a three-week high as a rally on equity markets supported high-yielding currencies.
At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.9012/13, up 0.87 per cent from Tuesday's close of $US0.8932/37.
It was the highest local close for the Australian dollar since January 25.
Between 0700 AEDT and the local close, the unit traded between $US0.8998 and $US0.9020.
Senior currency analyst with financial markets research group Forecast, Lee Wai Tuck, said the Australian dollar had received a boost from a lift in risk appetite on markets.
Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday following strong corporate earnings.
UK bank Barclays net profit more than doubled to STG9.4 billion ($A16.56 billion) in 2009.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.68 per cent.
Bourses in Asia followed the firm US lead, with Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closing up 2.19 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei-225 index was 2.62 per cent higher.
"Because of the global stock markets rally, the Aussie has been supported," Mr Lee said from Singapore.
Mr Lee said the Australian dollar had moved in a narrow range during local trade as market participants in Asia returned from holidays.
"The market is still on a bit of Chinese New Year mode," he said.
"It has not moved much from the New York close."
Mr Lee said the appearance of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Glenn Stevens before a parliamentary committee on Friday would hopefully give the market some clarity about the path of interest rates.
"We will need to wait for Friday to hear from governor Glenn Stevens about more details (on monetary policy)," he said.
Economic events due in the US during Wednesday's offshore session include the housing starts and industrial production, both for January.
Also, the minutes from the US Federal Open Market Committee's meeting on January 27 are scheduled to be released.
Mr Lee forecast the Australian dollar to move between $US0.8900 and $US0.9050 during Wednesday's offshore trade.
At 1600 AEDT, the RBA's trade weighted index (TWI) was at 70.1 points, up from Tuesday's close of 69.7.
It was the highest level for the TWI since January 25.
