Profit takers were active today as the local market opened strongly on the back of positive leads from the US overnight. The Materials sector was in favour this morning with investors trading Whitehaven Coal (WHC) and Paladin (PDN) actively. Big miners BHP and RIO were also being traded quite actively.

The Aussie dollar recovered some of it losses again the Japanese yen but dipped lower around noon.

We've seen some investors putting funds back to the US dollar on expectation that the greenback may get some boost from this Friday's jobs data from the US labour market. However, despite some positive moves for the US dollar the Aussie is holding its ground and keeping close to its three-month highs. The Aussie dollar is consolidating around the US$0.9140 level and is expected to be capped below the US$0.9180 level during Asian session.