Aust dollar closes lower after weak Asian data
01 Dec 2008 5:49 PM
The Australian dollar has closed lower after weak economic data from Asia hurt risk appetite and caused investors to sell the high-yielding currency.
At 1700 AEDT .. the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.6465/70 .. down almost one US cent from Friday's close of $US0.6561/65.
Westpac chief currency strategist ROBERT RENNIE says the currency's moves are related to the poor start on Asian equity markets in response to weak manufacturing data from China.
The Chinese purchasing managers index .. released today .. fell to fresh lows in November and followed a similarly disappointing survey in Japan and soft South Korean export figures.
Mr RENNIE also says a further cut of official interest rates at tomorrow's Reserve Bank of Australia board meeting wouldn't be too much of a surprise for currency markets.
CURRENCY TABLE: Currency snapshot at 1700 AEDT
CURRENCY SPOT PREVIOUS CLOSE
AUD/USD 0.6465-70 0.6561-65
AUD/JPY 61.55-61 62.54-59
AUD/EUR 0.5091-98 0.5079-86
AUD/NZD 1.1924-48 1.1876-94
AUD/GBP 0.4208-17 0.4256-63
EUR/USD 1.2693-95 1.2914-17
USD/JPY 95.22-25 95.30-33
EUR/JPY 120.86-90 123.07-12
(*Closes taken at 1700 AEDT Previous local session)
At 1600 AEDT .. the Reserve Bank of Australia's trade weighted index was at 54.2 .. down from Friday's close of 54.6.
