The Australian dollar is slightly lower, weighed down by some weak US retail sales data. and nervousness over the terrorist attacks in Paris.
At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 71.11 US cents, down from 71.33 cents on Friday.
US retail spending grew just 1.7 per cent in the year to October, reflecting both the modest pace of growth in the world’s largest economy but also falling prices for many things, including fuel and clothing.
In Paris, there are at least 129 people dead from a series of shootings and bombings on Friday night.
Westpac Strategist. Imre Speizer. said markets moved into safe-haven assets over the weekend.
“Risk aversion took hold in equity and commodity markets,” he said.
“That, plus some disappointing US data, caused US interest rates to fall, although the US dollar was resilient.”
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the Paris attacks would be an additional negative for markets on Monday.
“We were going to be down anyway in response to the weakness on Wall Street and further falls in commodity prices,” he said.
“But we will get an extra push along with nervousness associated with the terrorist attacks.”
AAP
