$A rises on interest rate speculation
The Australian dollar has risen on speculation the central bank may lift interest rates if the housing market overheats.
At 1200 AEST on Tuesday, the local currency was trading at 90.45 US cents, up from 90.00 cents on Monday.
The Aussie rose to an intraday high of 90.54 shortly after the Reserve Bank of Australia released minutes of its September board meeting.
The RBA's comments about the risk of further large house price rises gave the local currency a boost, Easy Forex senior dealer Francisco Solar said.
"It looks like the RBA has a focus on housing and that they don't want the housing market to overheat, and one way to do that is to lift interest rates," he said.
"That gave a little boost to the Aussie even though it was not clear cut.
"Nothing dovish came out of the minutes, which helped the Aussie grind higher to towards the 90.55 US cents area."
The RBA reiterated its stance of keeping the cash rate stable at 2.5 per cent for some time.
The minutes also said: "Housing prices were continuing to increase in the larger cities and members considered that the risks associated with this trend warranted ongoing close observation."
Australian bond futures prices were higher following weak US economic data.
US industrial production unexpectedly fell in August after six months of gains, dragged down by a slump in automobile manufacturing, the Federal Reserve reported.
Overall industrial production declined 0.1 per cent on the month, surprising analysts who had forecast a 0.3 per cent increase.
The December 2014 10-year bond futures contract was at 96.330 (3.670 per cent), up from 96.315 (3.685 per cent).
The December 2014 three-year bond futures contract was at 97.120 (2.880 per cent), up from 97.110 (2.890 per cent).
