Aussie dollar jumps on decisive election outcome

The Australian dollar jumped nearly one percent in early trade on Monday, boosted by a strong performance on Wall Street and following a decisive outcome at the weekend's general elections. Analysts said while a victory by the opposition Labor Party was not a surprise and was unlikely to prompt significant changes to the country's economic policies, the clear outcome of the election had relieved investors. "Because the result was very convincing, that does remove a bit of uncertainty and that does suggest the Labor party will be able to get their new policies through," said Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton.

The Aussie shot up over half a U.S. cent to around $0.8840 in early New Zealand trade before settling at around $0.8825/28 at 1945 GMT. On Friday, it stood at around $0.8775 in late U.S. trade on Friday and $0.8735/38 in late Sydney session.

The strong Aussie also lifted the neighbouring New Zealand dollar by around a quarter of a cent to $0.7611/13.

New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would name a cabinet later this week after his party was set to hold up to 86 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The surge in voter support to Labor left John Howard's Liberal Party in disarray, with up to six conservative ministers, including Howard, likely to lose their seats in only the sixth change of government since World War Two