Australian dollar tumbles in late trade

Financial and commodity markets analytics

The Australian dollar made a sharp reversal in late European trading today after flat local data and a fall commodity prices.

At 7.06pm (GMT) the Australian dollar was trading at US77.37c after hitting an intraday high of US78.34c earlier in the day.

The latest NAB business conditions survey slipped from 5 down to 4 today bringing into question the recovery of the Australian economy after the mining boom.

Also pressuring the Aussie dollar today was the wild volatility in the oil price with major swings between highs and lows before settling lower later in the day.

Most were expecting some type of pullback in the oil price after recovering from the selloff a few days ago with the higher price expected to entice US shale producers to pick up production again.

"If you were to take the fundamental pieces of the puzzle, they really don't compare with the latest two days of pickup in prices," said Harry Tchilinguirian, global head of commodity strategy at BNP Paribas

"Should we really be at $43 on a WTI basis because the closer we get to $45 mark with a curve that is in contango in the case of WTI, the more you’re going to throw a lifeline to US shale producers." He added.