Australian Trade Businesses See Aussie Gains, Commonwealth Says

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s importers and exporters forecast the nation’s currency will extend this year’s gains into December while stopping short of a record high, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender.

The so-called Aussie climbed 27 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months, the best performance among the 16 most-traded currencies. It will advance to 95.60 U.S. cents by year-end, according to the weighted average of more than 600 medium-sized importers and exporters in a survey commissioned by the bank. The median forecast of analysts compiled by Bloomberg News is for the Aussie to be at 92 U.S. cents by year-end.

“The levels at which the businesses have traded recently are a dominant theme in their expectations for the future,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist in Sydney for Commonwealth Bank. “That leaves importers in particular exposed to higher costs if the Australian dollar falls.”

Australia’s dollar traded at 92.51 U.S. cents yesterday as of 4 p.m. in Sydney and reached 98.50 cents on July 15, 2008, its strongest level since being freely floated. Commonwealth Bank forecasts the currency will fall to 90 cents by year-end and decline to 88 cents by March 2011.