By: Barbara Zigah
Carry trade unwinding by investors pushed the Aussie lower in Asian trading today, a continuing consequence of last week’s risk averse tendencies. As reported at 1:38 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Australian dollar slipped against the U.S. Dollar, trading at $0.8281, a loss of .5% in the session. Analysts are attributing some of the Aussie’s loss to the planned Australian mining tax, which many claim has hurt the country’s reputation as a bastion for investment opportunities; Rio Tinto says the tax is “damaging.” The Australian Dollar also fell versus the struggling Euro; last week, the Aussie struck a 3-month low, trading at AUD 1.5456. In today’s Asian trading session, the Aussie remains close to that low, trading at AUD 1.5100.
Also in Asia, investor profit taking on the single currency Euro pushed it down versus the U.S. Dollar to $1.2500, a .6% loss from last Friday’s late New York trading. Last week, the Euro struck a 4-year trough against the greenback, attributed to ongoing concerns that fiscally troubled Euro-zone nations, most especially Greece, will have difficulty implementing the terms of the E.U./IMF rescue package.
The U.S. Dollar continues to benefit from the Euro’s downtrend; the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s value versus several major currencies, traded at 85.71 .DXY, a gain of .4%.