The Australian dollar opens high on Friday at $US0.9108/12. The trading value is up from Thursday's close of $US0.9072/75.

The local unit traded between $US0.9059 and $US0.9121 yesterday.

The dollar's opening value is close to the highest value in August. Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said, “The August highs of just above US$0.9200 still hold.”

Traders will be looking at the August figure as reference while anticipating the release of US non-farm payroll figures on Friday night. Jones claims, “We're not going to see a hell of a lot of action one way or another ahead of that report.”

The New Zealand strategist forecast the Australian dollar to trade between US$0.9140 and US$0.9180 on Friday.

The early morning opening rate was influenced, in part, by the employment and housing data released on Thursday. The US Labor Department reported a decrease in the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits, while the National Association of Realtors reported a 5.2 percent rise in pending home sales in July.

Another influence to the local unit is the flat movement of European stocks on Thursday. Construction shares were among the top gainers; however, in the European market.