The dollar recovered some lost ground today, helped in part by a mild recovery in gold prices and comments by the Reserve Bank of Australia signalling it is in no rush to cut interest rates further.
While the Aussie still remains well below its level yesterday, when it was pushed down by news of weaker-than-expected first-quarter economic growth in China, traders said the sense of fear that pervaded overnight markets has eased.
At 4.50pm AEST, the dollar was trading at $US1.037, compared with $US1.0434 late yesterday. It traded as low as $US1.0308 in late New York trade on news of bombings in Boston.
"With no new news or data, Asia saw limited follow through of the risk-off move, prompting a solid bout of short covering," said Sue Trinh, currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.
In late Asia trading, spot gold was at $US1364.30 a troy ounce, up $12.30 from late yesterday. The metal has lost 12.6 per cent since April 12.
