The Australian dollar has continued to show strength over the Christmas break, maintaining parity-plus levels with its US counterpart and trading at a record against the European common currency.
This morning, the dollar was buying more than 101 US cents after hitting the 101.52-US-cent mark in the early hours.
The $A has not dipped below 99 US cents for nine days now as it continues its post-float record run. It is well up on its lows for the year, struck in May when the Aussie dollar reached 81.58 US cents.
Against the euro it is even stronger, rising to a high of 77.17 euro cents early this morning before settling slightly lower - but still higher than 77 euro cents. The 10-year average for the Aussie against the euro is about 59 euro cents.
The Aussie dollar has also been trading at 25-year highs against the British pound for some time and reached 65.89 pence overnight.