Aussie pops in sync with iron-ore futures, as Chinese traders return

Iron ore futures on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) rose to a record on Monday, as the Chinese traders return from their week-long New Year holidays and react positively to the looming supply disruption risks from Brazil, the country’s second-largest ore supplier, following a fatal dam accident at a Vale SA mine.

According to Reuters, the most-active iron ore futures for May delivery on the DCE rose to their daily trading limit when the market opened at 0100 GMT, hitting a record of CNY 652 ($96.30) a tonne.

The jump in the Chinese iron-ore futures could be also seen as a catalyst behind the latest uptick in the Aussie-dollar that drove the AUD/USD pair back above the 0.71 handle. At the press time, the spot keeps its range near the last, up +0.15% on the day.