PERTH: The Australian dollar has fallen back near the multi-year low it hit in January as fresh signals from China indicated that it is unlikely to introduce additional stimulus measures.
The sharp rise in the greenback following the February jobs data surprise from the US and hawkish Fed remarks weighed the Aussie dollar further down.
The AUD/USD fell to 0.7632 on Tuesday, 10 March, just 6 pips away from the January low of 0.7626, which was its weakest since May 2009.
The Aussie dollar broke the key 0.8650 support in November last year and fell 11.5% in the three months to January. The AUD/USD pair was little changed at the February close of 0.7815 but has fallen 2.3% so far in March.
The Chinese government recently said that it has lowered the GDP growth target to around 7% for 2015 from 7.5% in 2014. The actual growth rate last year was 7.4%, a 24-year low for the country, but still the strongest among major emerging market economies.
“The lower target is credit positive because it underscores the administration’s commitment to achieving a more sustainable but still high rate of expansion that does not jeopardize long- term macroeconomic stability through the buildup of excessive leverage,” said Moody’s Investors Service in a note.
