The eastern market indicator (EMI), however, eased by 2c/kg, ending the week at 775c/kg.

Performance of the regional indicators was:

• North (Sydney): Unchanged, on 798c/kg .

• South (Melbourne): Down 3c/kg, to 758c/kg.

• Western (Fremantle): Up by 3c/kg, to 772c/kg.

In a two-day sale in Sydney and a one-day sale in Melbourne, the EMI fell by 5c/kg on Wednesday and rose by 3c/kg on Thursday.

The western Indicator fell by 4c/kg on Wednesday and rose by 7c/kg on Thursday, in a two-day sale in Fremantle.

The Australian Wool Industries Secretariat (AWIS) says the week's sales had a mixed start, with the finer micron wools unchanged or slightly up, but with the medium and broad micron types down on the first day of selling.

A stronger market on Thursday saw gains across all Merino Micron ranges and types.

Buyers for China were dominant, followed by those buying for India with some better support from Europe again this week.

A modest total of 33,476 bales were on offer, compared with 33,208 bales at the last sale.

Of these, 13pc were passed in nationally - 6.4pc in Sydney, 16.3pc in Melbourne and 14.7pc in Fremantle.

From the expected offering of 36,089, bales withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 15.2pc of the final offering.

The US exchange rate on Thursday to close at US80.40c, up 0.6pc) since the last sale.

The exchange rate against the euro fell by 0.5pc, to close at 56.97 euro cents on Thursday night.

So, when looked at in other currencies, the EMI firmed by 2c/kg (0.3pc) in US terms, but was down by 3c/kg (0.7pc) in euro terms, when compared with the previous sale's figures.

Sales will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle next week in the last sale before the three week mid-year break. An offering of 42,086 bales is currently rostered for sale, a 7.0pc decrease when compared with numbers for the same sale last year.

The Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) sampling and test data released on Tuesday shows the weight of wool tested in 2008-09 was 9.4pc less than that tested the previous season.

The current wool production forecast for the 2008-09 selling year just ended is 355 mkg - 11.3pc below that of 2007-08.