FOREX - AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR OPENS SOFTER - FEB 4, 2003.

SYDNEY, Feb 4 Asia Pulse - The Australian dollar followed the euro down and then up again as the US dollar rallied in overnight trade, but the local currency has opened weaker.

At 0700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at $US0.5844/49 compared with $US0.5856/61 at yesterday's close.

Shortly before the open of the local session international ratings agency Fitch Ratings announced it had raised the Commonwealth of Australia's long-term foreign currency rating to AA-plus from AA.

Fitch said the upgrade reflected the continuing impressive performance of the Australian economy, its capacity to withstand shocks - demonstrated again through the global economic and financial turmoil of 2001-02 - and a clearer picture of how the private sector manages foreign exchange risk.

"I think the market wasn't looking for it (the ratings upgrade), it wasn't waiting for it ... The Aussie really has not traded that announcement yet," Macquarie Bank divisional director Geoff Bowmer said.

"At this stage the Australian dollar has traded on the back of the euro."

In European trading, a recovering US dollar pushed the Australian dollar and euro down, with the local currency trading at a low of $US0.5825.