Greenback boost sends Australian dollar lower at noon

The dollar was lower at noon after posting a fresh 11-week low amid growing demand for US dollars in reponse to positive US economic data.
At 12:00 (AEDT), the dollar was trading at $US0.8767/71, down from yesterday's close of $US0.8794/99.
During the morning, the local unit traded between a high of $US0.8777 and a low of $US0.8744.
The latter was the dollar's lowest level since it reached $US0.8682 on October 5.
The dollar lost ground during the overnight session as better-than-expected US existing home sales data helped maintain a rally in the US dollar.
The local unit continued under pressure at the start of today's Asian session, despite an encouraging start on regional equity markets.
ANZ economist Amber Rabinov said the positive US data provided market participants further evidence of a US economic recovery.
"We did just see a continuation of some of the themes that have been persistent over the past few weeks,'' Ms Rabinov said.
"We haven't really seen any slowdown in the momentum of the recovery of the US dollar.
"It has been pretty steady and it does suggest that we could see the Aussie dollar dip lower as we head into the new year.''
The dollar has lost about seven per cent against the US dollar since it reached $US0.9406 on November 16.
Ms Rabinov said there was a risk the dollar could slide as low as $US0.8660 during the traditionally quiet Christmas/New Year trading period.
But she said the outlook for the local unit over the first half of next year remained positive.
Investors returning to long US dollar positions had done so more at the expense of currencies such as the euro rather than the dollar, Ms Rabinov said.
"We have seen quite a sharp pull back in positioning in a number of other currencies, such as the euro, where speculators are now net short euros whereas two weeks ago they had been substantially long,'' Ms Rabinov explained.
"But we haven't seen the same degree of pullback in Aussie dollar positions. They still remain quite long in the speculator market.
"That's suggesting there is still confidence that the Aussie dollar will head higher in the new year.''