“The Australian dollar fell for a second day against the yen after data showed consumer confidence was little changed from a two-month low, underscoring concern the South Pacific nation’s economy is weakening.
The so-called Aussie slid versus most of its 16 major counterparts after the World Bank cut its global growth forecast for this year, tempering demand for higher-yielding assets. Australia’s bonds advanced for a third day. The New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, dropped versus its Japanese peer as Asian stocks declined.
“We’ve seen over the last week that domestic data hasn’t been that good and the Aussie’s taken perhaps a slight hit,” said Derek Mumford, a Sydney-based director at Rochford Capital, a currency risk-management company. “I wouldn’t say today’s data reflects any kind of booming confidence.”
Australia’s dollar fell 1 percent to 92.86 yen as of 4:50 p.m. in Sydney. It lost 0.2 percent to $1.0549. New Zealand’s currency bought 73.87 yen, 0.9 percent below the close in New York. It traded at 83.93 U.S. cents from 83.97 yesterday.
Ten-year yields in Australia dropped to as low as 3.36 percent, the lowest since Jan. 3. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares lost 0.8 percent.
Australia’s sentiment index for January rose 0.6 percent to 100.6, a Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute survey taken Jan. 7-13 of 1,200 adults showed today in Sydney. This month’s figure was little changed from the 100.03 level in December that was the least since October. Readings above 100 indicate optimists outnumbered pessimists….”
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