The Australian dollar has jumped against its US counterpart and is back above 77 US cents.

At 0635 AEDT on Thursday, the Australian dollar was worth 77.08 US cents, up from 76.91 US cents on Wednesday.

The Aussie dollar found support from the Australian government’s auctioning of a record A$1.1 billion of 11-year bonds and strong demand for the 2.75 pre cent coupon, CurrencyView said in a note..

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last flat on the day at 101.370.

It had hit a one-week high of 101.720 before veteran French centrist Francois Bayrou said he was offering an alliance with independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, a move that could give the former investment banker a much-needed boost to reach the runoff in May’s presidential election.

The local currency is slightly higher against the euro but down against the yen.

AAP

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