Aussie dlr supported by firm commodities, bonds up

SYDNEY, May 12 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar held just
above 94 U.S. cents on Monday, supported by firm commodity
prices even as a fresh bout of risk aversion saw investors stay
away from riskier assets and leveraged trades.

* The CRB commodities index .CRB rose to a record 427.18
helped by firm gold and all-time high oil prices [O/R].
Australia is a big exporter of natural resources and rising
commodity prices boost its terms of trade and lend support to
the Aussie.

* U.S. stocks fell on Friday as concerns about the
financial sector flared up again after American International
Group (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a massive quarterly loss of $7.8
billion, stemming from its exposure to subprime mortgages. That
saw appetite for leveraged trades and higher-yielding
currencies take a hit.

* The Aussie traded near 10-day lows against the yen
<AUDJPY=R> around 96.59/69, from 97.46/56 yen late on Friday,
as investors unwound risky carry trades.

* By 9:35 a.m. the Aussie <AUD=> was at $0.9405/09 against
the U.S. dollar, down from $0.9428/29 late here on Friday. It
had struck a two-week high of $0.9507 last week.

* The Aussie dipped on Friday after comments from the
central bank reduced the chances of a further interest rate
rise in the coming months. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
said demand was slowing down considerably and was likely to
curb inflation.

* Domestic housing finance data for March is out at 11:30
a.m. (0130 GMT). A Reuters poll forecast a 1.0 percent fall in
March, seasonally adjusted, having contracted 5.9 percent in
the previous month.

* Australian bond futures were firmer on safe haven inflows
and as investors pared chances of further tightening by the RBA
in the near term.

* Three-year Australian bond futures YTTc1 rose by 0.025
points to 93.770, while the 10-year bond contract YTCc1 added
0.035 points to rise to 93.815.
(Reporting by Anirban Nag; Editing by James Thornhill)