The Australian dollar dipped today as negative report about Australian retails sales added to overall negative sentiment among Forex market participants. The data reinforced opinion that the nation’s central bank may continue interest rate cuts.
Retail sales fell 0.2 percent in April from March on a seasonally adjusted basis, following the 1.1 percent increase in March. The median estimate was a 0.2 percent rise. Negative domestic fundamentals added to the negative impact of the European crisis, driving the Aussie to the lowest level in six months against yen. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares declined 0.8 percent.
AUD/USD slumped from 0.9845 to 0.9738 as of 15:19 GMT today. AUD/JPY tumbled from 78.27 to 76.86 and its daily minimum of 76.68 was the lowest since November 28, 2011.
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