The Australian dollar opened almost two US cents higher today, boosted by strong equity markets and an energised euro.

At 0700 AEST, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8643/44, up from Wednesday's close of $US0.8482/84.

Since the previous day's close at 1700 AEST, the local unit traded between $US0.8665 and $US0.8450.

ANZ senior markets dealer Alex Sinton said the unit was boosted by a positive turn on equity markets during the offshore session.

'There is more positivity around equity markets,' Mr Sinton said.

'The Aussie gained because people were short given last week's story about about double dip recession.'

During the offshore session, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed back above 10,000 points to end nearly two straight weeks of losses. The Dow rose 2.8 per cent to 10,018.28 points. This followed a smaller rise on Tuesday.

The index hasn't risen two straight days since June 17-18.

Meanwhile, the Standard Poor's 500 index rose 3.1 per cent to 1,060.27 points.

Mr Sinton said the return to risk was a boon for other growth currencies, as well.

During the offshore session, the euro rose to $US1.2650 from $1.2620 on Tuesday, while the British pound gained to $1.5205 from $1.5149.

Mr Sinton said the direction of the local dollar during the trading day depended on key domestic employment data at 1130 AEST.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force data are forecast to show total employment to have increased by 15,000 in June with the unemployment rate staying at 5.2 per cent, according to a median of 11 economists surveyed by AAP.

Mr Sinton said that, if the jobless rate falls below 5.2 per cent, the local unit could push to around $US0.8698 during the trading day.

CURRENCY TABLE: Currency snapshot at 0700 AEST

CURRENCY SPOT PREVIOUS CLOSE

AUD/USD 0.8643-44 0.8482-84

AUD/JPY 75.80-83 74.07-14

AUD/EUR 0.6836-41 0.6738-45

AUD/NZD 1.2283-88 1.2247-57

AUD/GBP 0.5690-95 0.5612-20

EUR/USD 1.2637-38 1.2581-82

USD/JPY 87.70-70 87.34-36

EUR/JPY 110.84-86 109.88-92