PERTH: The Australian dollar is lower, weighed down by a weaker New Zealand dollar and a bout of US dollar buying.
The Australian dollar was worth US80.06c at 12pm (AEST) on Monday, down from US80.47c on Friday.
Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie said the New Zealand dollar has lot some ground during the morning, which hasn’t helped the Australian dollar.
“Over the weekend New Zealand announced changes to capital gains tax on investment properties that’s seen a weaker New Zealand dollar,” he said.
“We’ve also seen a bit of US dollar buying generally going through this morning as well and that is leading currencies lower as well.”
Mr Rennie expects the Australian dollar to fall below US80c on Monday and will says it will probably go down to US79.60c or US79.80c, but not too much further.
During the morning Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe reiterated the bank’s long-held concern over the strong Australian dollar.
