The Australian dollar edged down today as surprisingly poor economic data reignited speculations about potential interest rate cut from the central bank as recovery does not look stable enough yet.
Building permits slid 4.7 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis following the 10.2 percent increase in July. Experts have expected much smaller decrease by 0.7 percent. The trade balance deficit shrank by A$560 million to A$815 million in August, but was still almost two times above the forecast A$450 million.
The worse-than-expected reports fueled talks that the Reserve Bank of Australia will need to cut borrowing costs further to support growth. The central bank refrained from slashing rates yesterday, sending the Aussie up.
AUD/USD ticked down from 0.9395 to 0.9367 as of 4:55 GMT today. EUR/AUD rose from 1.4388 to 1.4430, while AUD/JPY fell from 92.06 to 91.55.
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