Dollar tipped to stabilise after bounce off 20-month lows

The Australian dollar has endured another week of volatility but could soon stabilise at a lower level as turbulence in global currency markets continues, analysts say.

The dollar fell to a fresh 20-month low against the US dollar and lost 5 per cent in its sharpest weekly fall in two years against the Japanese yen.

The dollar rallied as high as US96.74¢ on Friday, rebounding strongly from a 20-month low of US94.35¢ early in the session. It later rose and was trading at US95.23¢ and ¥92.06 late Friday.

The sharemarket, which has seen an exodus of foreign investors as the currency slipped, has shed almost all its gains for the year. The S&P/ASX200 closed 3.8 per cent lower for the week at 4737.7. The broader All Ordinaries Index shed 3.8 per cent to close the week at 4729.3.

Since the Australian dollar started its slide early last month, it has lost 7.7 per cent against the US dollar and 12.5 per cent against the yen, making it one of the most under-performing currencies in the world, strategists said.

On the Reserve Bank's trade-weighted index, the Australian dollar weakened to a new low of 72.2.

But currency strategists said the recent volatility and downward slide could soon end as confidence returns to the dollar.

"We haven't tried these levels for some time so it creates uncertainty in the marketplace," RBS senior currency strategist Greg Gibbs said.

"The bouncing factor is that for the rest of this year and going into next year, there'll be a lot of global liquidity from other central banks continuing to use quantitative easing measures, and Australia is still a relatively safe investment location."

Rochford Capital director Derek Mumford said positioning on the dollar was so short it would be subject to some bounces higher.

"The Australian dollar in this run-down has maybe reach the bottom around US94¢, which is a key level and the low back in 2011," he said.

"At the end of the day, our economy is still relatively strong. We've still got an interest rate advantage over the rest of the G7 and major currencies, and at the moment, China is still growing at a relatively good pace," he said.

"So I don't think things are as bad as perhaps the market is [expecting] for the Aussie at this point in time."

Commonwealth Bank foreign exchange economist Chris Tennent-Brown said US non-farm payrolls for May, which measures employment and was set to be released on Saturday morning, could weigh on the Australian dollar.