Australian dollar falls in early trading

The Australian dollar has opened lower as investors moved away from risk assets on concerns about European debt and the US economy.

At 7am AEST (9am NZT) today, the local unit was trading at $US0.9107/11, down from yesterday's close of $US0.9142/45.

Since 5pm AEST yesterday, the Austrlain currency has traded between $US0.9090 and $US0.9150.

Canadian Forex corporate dealer Darren Richardson said the Australian dollar lost ground overnight as US equities slumped and concerns heightened about European debt and the US economy.

"That's in reaction to uncertainty surrounding some of the European debt and some of the banks," Mr Richardson said.

"That's also following the comments by the Bank of Japan and the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia), both saying that they're a little bit concerned about the US economy and that's filtered through in the form of people removing risk from the table and thus selling Aussie dollars and commodities."

US stocks slipped on Tuesday on the back of fresh concerns over the health of the European economy which weighed on last week's optimism.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.03 per cent, while the broader S&P 500 index shed 1.15 per cent.

Mr Richardson predicted the Australian dollar would be supported around the current levels during the domestic session.

The release of Australian Bureau of Statistics home loan data at 11.30am AEST was not expected to offer much in the way of direction for the currency, he said.

"I think we should be staying pretty solid between $US0.9100 and $US0.9200 during the Aussie session," he said.

- AAP