The Australian dollar is weaker as quantitative easing in Europe boosts the greenback and traders wait on this week's US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.
At 1200 AEDT on Monday, the local currency was trading at 76.31 US cents, down from 76.75 cents on Friday.
The Australian dollar lost ground in local morning trade as the euro fell a week after the commencement of the European Central Bank's 1.1 trillion euro bond buying program, which in turn boosted the US dollar.
The greenback is also rising ahead of the US Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting, which wraps up on Thursday morning Australian time.
"This US dollar rampaging strength ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting ... just continues to drive the Aussie dollar lower," Western Union Business Solutions currency strategist Steven Dooley said.
"Every other economy is cutting rates rapidly whereas the US is the only economy that's currently thinking about raising rates."
Meanwhile, the bond market was firmer at 1200 AEDT.
The March 2015 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.503 (implying a yield of 2.497 per cent), up from 97.490 (2.510 per cent) on Friday.
The March 2015 three-year bond futures contract was at 98.125 (1.875 per cent), down from 98.115 (1.885 per cent).
The March bond futures contracts expired at noon.
The June 2015 10-year bond futures contract was at 97.480 (2.520 per cent), up from 97.445 (2.565 per cent) on Friday.
The June 2014 three-year bond futures contract was at 98.175 (1.825 per cent), up from 98.150 (1.850) per cent on Friday.
KEY MOVEMENTS
One Australian dollar buys:
* 76.31 US cents, from 76.75 cents on Friday
* 92.62 Japanese yen, from 93.21 yen
* 72.69 euro cents, from 72.43 euro cents
* 104.03 New Zealand cents, from 104.17 NZ cents
* 51.72 British pence, from 51.63 pence
Government bond and bank bill yields:
* CGS 4.75 pct July 2017, 1.850% from 1.874% on Friday
* CGS 2.75 pct April 2024, 2.457% from 2.481%
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session)
Source: IRESS
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