$A rallies on surprisingly strong GDP data
The Australian dollar has rallied on the back of surprisingly strong gross domestic product figures.
At 1200 AEST on Wednesday, the local currency was trading at 92.84 US cents, up from 92.77 cents on Tuesday.
The Australian dollar rallied as high as 92.99 US cents following the release of the much stronger than expected GDP figures.
The data showed Australia's economy grew by 1.1 per cent in the March quarter, and by 3.5 per cent on an annual basis.
Economists had expected growth of 0.8 per cent in the March quarter and an annual rate of 3.1 per cent, according to an AAP survey of 15 economists.
'GDP was a lot stronger than what the average economist thought so we saw the Aussie shoot up from 92.60 US cents to just under 93 cents in a matter of seconds,' Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Joseph Capurso said.
'It's eased off a little now and has given up about half those gains as people look through the detail and see that while the headline number was very strong, domestic demand was a little soft.'
Mr Capurso said it would likely be a quiet night ahead for the Australian dollar, with traders awaiting the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.
'People are really holding their breath for the ECB meeting so I think we've got a fairly quiet 24 hours ahead,' he said.
Australian bond futures prices were lower.
The June 2014 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.220 (implying a yield of 3.780 per cent), down from 96.285 (3.715 per cent) on Tuesday.
The June 2014 three-year bond futures contract was at 97.150 (2.850 per cent), down from 97.220 (2.780 per cent).
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