Aussie strengthens vs. pound for third straight day

The aussie strengthened against the pound for the third straight day yesterday, after gains on Asian stock markets and rises in the price of oil and gold buoyed demand for higher-risk currencies.

• Rises in the price of gold and oil, Australia’s third- and fourth-most valuable commodity exports respectively, drove the aussie’s gains yesterday.
  
• In addition, dovish comments from the Bank of England Governor Mervyn King on Wednesday, together with a gloomy report from the OECD the same day, downgrading the UK’s growth prospects, hit the pound.
  
• There are no major announcements due in either Australia or the UK today so traders will take their lead from broader market movements.