The Aussie dollar posted a new 14-month high during the offshore session amid across-the-board US dollar weakness.  At 7am AEDT, the local currency was trading at USD 0.9052/55, down from yesterday's close of USD 0.9073/76.  During the overnight session, the unit traded between a low of USD 0.9034 and a high of USD 0.9127 - the currency's highest level since it traded at $US0.9130 on August 7 last year. But it drifted back below $US0.9100 through the course of the New York session amid weakness on US equity markets.

 

Other commodities-linked currencies such as the New Zealand and Canadian dollars also moved lower on the back of weak equity market performance.

The US dollar fell to its lowest level against the Euro since before the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September last year.

Commodities prices finished higher during the New York session, with the front month crude oil contract rising above $US74 a barrel and the gold price posting a record high of $US1,069.70.

From a shipping perspective, the recent strengthening of the Australian dollar has resulted in a significant rise in the number of used machines being imported into Australia.  The greatest increase has been from the U.S. however machinery numbers being imported from Japan and - to a much lesser extent - Europe, are also on the rise.

Importing Machinery into Australia

For assistance with importing machinery into Australia (or just about anywhere else in the world), contact a Freightplus representative today!