PERTH: The Australian dollar is slightly lower, as it continues to be weighed down by a weak business investment outlook.
At 0700 AEST on Monday, the local unit was trading at 76.39 US cents, down from 76.53 cents on Friday.
The currency has been under pressure since Thursday when official capital expenditure figures showed that non-mining companies are planning reduce their spending over the next financial year.
Brown Brothers Harriman global head of currency strategy Marc Chandler said the Australian dollar was among the weaker performing currencies last week.
“Disappointing data weighed on the Australian dollar,” he said. “It has essential unwound the six-week uptrend over the past two weeks.” The Reserve Bank board meets on Tuesday and is widely expected to keep the cash rate unchanged, but Mr Chandler said it could signal that it is open to cutting the interest rate further if needed.
He said this is also putting downward pressure on the Australian dollar.
“A rate cut would surprise the market,” he said.
“The Aussie dollar’s decline probably buys it some time.” On Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases building approvals figures for April and business indicators for the March quarter.
