Aussie Falls As Australia Q4 Capex Drops Unexpectedly
February 22 2017 - 8:43PM
RTTF2
The Australian dollar weakened against other major currencies in
the Asian session on Thursday, after data showed that the private
capital expenditure in Australia dropped unexpectedly on quarter in
the fourth quarter of 2016.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the
private capital expenditure in Australia was down a seasonally
adjusted 2.1 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016,
coming in at A$27.579 billion. The headline figure missed
expectations for a fall of 0.5 percent following the 4.0 percent
decline in the three months prior.
Capex for buildings and structures fell 4.1 percent on quarter
and 25.5 percent on year to A$15.314 billion.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets traded lower, following the mixed
cues overnight from Wall Street after minutes of the Federal
Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting said it might be
appropriate to raise interest rates again "fairly soon" if the data
is in line or stronger than expectations. In addition, weaker
commodity prices weighed on resources stocks.
Investors are also taking profits as the corporate earnings
season winds down.
Wednesday, the Australian dollar had risen 0.31 percent against
the U.S. dollar, 0.08 percent against the yen, 0.08 percent against
the euro, 0.49 percent against the loonie and 0.10 percent against
the kiwi.
In the Asian trading session, the Australian dollar fell to a
3-day low of 1.0663 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing
value of 1.0710. The aussie may test support around the 1.04
area.
Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the aussie dropped to
2-day lows of 1.3763 and 0.7665 from yesterday's closing quotes of
1.3711 and 0.7702, respectively. If the aussie extends its
downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.40 against the
euro and 0.75 against the greenback.
Against the Canadian dollar and the yen, the aussie slipped to
1.0088 and 86.77 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0135 and
87.27, respectively. The aussie is likely to find support around
0.99 against the loonie and 84.00 against the yen.
Looking ahead, the German Gfk consumer sentiment index for March
and final GDP for the fourth quarter are due to be released in the
pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.
In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week
ended February 18, U.S. house price index for December and crude
oil inventories data are slated for release.
At 8:35 am ET, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is expected
to speak on "Looking Back on 10 Years at the Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta" before the 2017 Banking Outlook conference, in Atlanta,
U.S.
At 1:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert
Kaplan is expected to speak at the Tarrant County Bankers
Association, in Fort Worth.
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