THE Australian dollar is higher after the US Federal Reserve chairman eased concerns about the tapering of the central bank's economic stimulus program.
At 1700 AEST on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 92.71 US cents, up from 91.96 cents on Wednesday.
The Australian dollar rallied on Thursday after US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed's economic stimulus program was still necessary, because the jobs market remained weak and inflation remained too low.
ForexCT head of research Steven Dooley said the comments led to a massive fall in the US dollar.
"Ben Bernanke's question-and-answer this morning was almost a complete contradiction of all the information we've been getting from the Federal Reserve over the last six months," Mr Dooley said.
"There's been a complete and utter turn around in sentiment not just towards the Aussie dollar but all currencies compared to the US dollar."
