Gaining shortly after the release of the Westpac Banking Corp. report, the Australian dollar jumped to trade as high as 1.0395 against the US dollar in the Asian session.  The gain was just a bit higher than the US session close of 1.0389 – but below the day’s high of 1.0403.

According to the Westpac report, consumer confidence in the Australian economy improved in November, following the first central bank rate cut in almost 3 years.  Last week, the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens cut the country’s benchmark overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%.  For the month, the consumer index rose by 6.3%, gaining for the third month in a row and to the highest level since the first half of 2011.

Additional gains in confidence are expected in the coming months, with the market anticipating further rate cuts by the RBA – although not likely to materialize till the first quarter of 2012.  Nonetheless, current index results are buoying short term optimistic expectations of a recovery amid the ongoing European debt saga.