Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar may rise after the price of copper climbed to a record, bolstering the outlook for the country's export earnings.

Australia's currency is influenced by the prices of metals such as copper and gold because the country derives about 10 percent of its economic output from overseas sales of raw materials. Australia is the world's fourth-biggest supplier of copper.

``The Australian dollar looks to be fair value around this level,'' said Stephen Koukoulas, Asia-Pacific chief strategist at TD Securities Ltd. in Sydney. ``The commodity market is clearly a buoyant attracter of capital to Australia.''

The Australian dollar bought 75.64 U.S. cents at 8:11 a.m. in Sydney from an earlier three-week low of 75.49 cents and 75.70 cents in late Asian trading yesterday. The currency will rise to 80 cents in the next three months, Koukoulas forecast.

The Reuters/Jeffries CRB index of 19 commodity futures gained 1.2 percent, led by gains in copper.

Copper futures for December delivery rose 3.8 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $1.7365 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the fifth gain in six sessions. Earlier, prices reached $1.74, an intraday record.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Young in Sydney at cyoung12@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 26, 2005 18:16 EDT