LONDON May 24 (Reuters) - Hedge funds hungry for trade ideas after the success of their bets on Japan's recovery have been turning their attention to the Australian dollar, betting the end of the commodities boom will drive down the currency. Funds ...

The villain has been Australia's dollar: Up 77 percent versus the yen since October 2008, it has helped send Japanese car imports to a record and sales of domestically made vehicles down 18 percent in four years.

The Australian Dollar continued to slide last week - yielding the worst performance among the major currencies against its US namesake - as shifting monetary policy expectations undermined demand for the high-yielder.

The Australian dollar dropped to a one-year low after the head of the United States Federal Reserve said he would consider winding down its economic stimulus program in the coming months.

These two closely-related stories have conspired to slam the Australian dollar, which is levered to both commodities and China.

The currency today plumbed one-year lows, heading past 96.50 US cent after being above parity for most of the past year. By 2.50pm, the Aussie had regained some ground to be trading about 96.13 US cents. As the US economic recovery gets a bit stronger, ...

INVESTMENT banks have continued to go cold on the Australian dollar, with Credit Suisse's global strategists telling clients the Aussie could fall to US85c in 12 months because "this time it's structural".

Australian dollar tumbles on Ford, Chinese PMI. 23 May, 12:03 PM. Markets · Currency · Australian Dollar. Local currency drops to fresh 1-year low on Ford closures, weak data. You must be logged in to read this article. Not a member yet? Register today ...

The Australian dollar has surged more than one-and-a-half US cents higher from Thursday's low point, as the United States dollar lost ground against all the major currencies.

Wall Street saw its biggest one day swing in six months and the Australian dollar dropped overnight as investors raised concerns that the US Federal Reserve will scale back its stimulus program shortly.