THE dollar opened over a third of a US cent higher today, on high commodity prices and a softer US currency.
At 7am AEDT, the local unit was trading at 101.07 US cents, up from yesterday's local close of 100.71 US cents.
Since 5pm AEDT yesterday, the dollar moved between a high of 101.32 US cents and a low of 100.65 US cents.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said the local unit benefited from softness in the US dollar overnight.
"Overall it was a fairly lacklustre session in terms of foreign exchange movements but we did see some positive sentiment towards the Aussie come through in the offshore session," Mr Jones said. "Most of the Aussie gains reflected a broad based weakness in the US dollar."
High commodity prices have also continued to support the dollar, he said.
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"Overnight, we saw further gains on oil prices on the back of the Libyan conflict while commodity prices are more broadly tending to benefit as well."
Today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases labour force data for February.
Expectations are for the jobless rate to remain steady at five per cent and for a 20,000 rise in total employment, according to an AAP survey of 11 economists.
While the data is known for its volatility, it has the potential to change the short-term direction of the Australian dollar, Mr Jones said.
"If you look back at the past week, the Aussie's really been trading broadly sideways.
"So if we do get a really strong result from the unemployment data, that may provide the impetus for a topside break out of the Aussie's range."
Fed’s hand strengthens on tame inflation dataDollar higher on weak US currency
