Australian dollar slides after hitting two-year high

The Australian dollar closed last week at its highest for nearly two and a half years, reaching 81.20 US cents – the most since early 2015.

The high is due to the steady slide of the US dollar, which has slumped in the past two weeks due to fears about North Korea and the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The Australian dollar is up 12.2 percent since the start of the year against the USD.

However, today the AUD dipped below 81 US cents, falling to 80.37 at 5pm today.

The reversal coincided with sliding commodity prices which fell heavily in London and China.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:

One Australian dollar buys:

- 80.37 US cents, from 81.00 on Friday

- 87.229 Japanese yen, from 87.23 yen

- 66.94 euro cents, from 67.15 euro cents

- 60.94 British pence, from 61.69 pence

- 110.83 NZ cents, from 110.74 cents