The Australian dollar is higher after reaching parity with the greenback overnight for the first time since September 22.

It hit an overnight high of 100.15 US cents as Wall Street stocks gained almost three per cent after Germany and France pledged to come up with a plan to shore up Europe’s banks against a Greek default.

At 0700 AEDT on Tuesday, the Australian dollar was trading at 99.87 US cents, 1.5 US cents up from 98.33 cents on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, met on Sunday to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.

After meeting in Berlin, President Sarkozy promised a “lasting, global and quick responses before the end of the month” to the eurozone government debt crisis that is threatening to engulf banks and core euro countries.

GFT Forex director of currency research Kathy Lien said the the commitment by Eurozone’s two biggest national economies to stabilising banks had given the market a sense of optimism.

“Little details were provided from Merkel and Sarkozy but as the two main stumbling blocks to any major bailout package for the Eurozone, their co-operation has been warmly received by the markets,” she said from New York.

“If Merkel and Sarkozy manage to come up with a decently structured bailout program that would mitigate contagion throughout the region.”

Locally, the National Australia Bank (NAB) will release its monthly business survey for September on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will issue official jobs figures for September, which are expected to show 10,000 jobs were added to the economy in September, the median of an AAP survey of 15 economists shows.

The unemployment rate is expected to stay steady at 5.3 per cent.