Australia’s
dollar fell to a six-week low as traders weighed prospects for growth in China,
the South Pacific nation’s biggest trading partner, before a four-day Communist
Party summit ends today.
The
currency extended an intraday decline after a report from National Australia
Bank Ltd. showed business confidence fell. The Aussie weakened for a third day
yesterday after Chinese loan growth slowed more than forecast last month.
Australia’s 10-year government bond yields climbed to the highest in more than
1 1/2 years.
Australia’s
dollar lost 0.1 percent to 93.50 U.S. cents as of 12:10 p.m. in Sydney after
touching 93.37, the weakest since Oct. 2. It had weakened 1.8 percent in the
three days through yesterday. New Zealand’s currency was little changed at
82.54 U.S. cents.
Benchmark
10-year bond yields in Australia rose three basis points, or 0.03 percentage
point, to 4.26 percent. It earlier touched 4.29 percent, the highest since
March 2012.
A
sentiment gauge among Australian businesses fell to 5 in October from 12 the
prior month, NAB said today. It separately pushed back its forecast for a
Reserve Bank of Australia rate cut to May from February, citing a slower
increase in unemployment.
Chinese
President Xi Jinping and hundreds of top Communist leaders are gathered in
Beijing to map out an economic blueprint to sustain growth and drive the
urbanization of hundreds of millions of rural residents. A communique will be
released after the meeting ends outlining the road map.
New
yuan loans grew by 506.1 billion yuan ($83.1 billion) in October, down from a
787 billion yuan increase in the previous month. Analysts forecast a 580
billion yuan gain.
(Source: Bloomberg)