AUD rose

The Australian dollar climbed to a fresh 17-year peak against the U.S. dollar on Monday, buoyed by gains against the Japanese yen after the weekend Group of Seven (G7) ministers meeting appeared unconcerned about carry trades.

Gains by the Aussie were also bolstered by speculation that Australia's central bank will raise interest rates next month to check inflation.

The gathering of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the world's richest nations reiterated their message on currencies delivered in February in which they had said exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals.

Traders said this meant carry trades would continue and investors were likely to dump the yen and the U.S. dollar for higher yielding currencies like the euro, the Australian and New Zealand dollar. The yen hit a record low against the euro on Monday.