THE Australian dollar was lower at noon as stronger than expected retail figures failed to stop a decline in the local currency.
The local unit moved down in morning trade following the release of weaker Chinese manufacturing data and weaker domestic building approvals figures.
At 12pm (AEST) today, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8385 down 0.94 per cent from yesterday's close of $US0.8465.
From 7am (AEST) today, the local unit traded between $US0.8407 and $US0.8455.
Nomura Australia economist Stephen Roberts said slightly better than expected retail sales figures caused a small bounce in the local currency before it fell away in late morning trade.
"There was a slight blip," Mr Roberts said.
"I think people got a little bit of a surprise on the retail sales numbers, but by the time you put it together with all the other data, you've got an economy which is not really growing in the private sector and getting more of its spending from the public sector.
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"Obviously that's not sustainable over time."
Australian retail trade at current prices rose 0.6 per cent in April to a seasonally adjusted $20.119 billion, from an upwardly revised $20.001 billion in March.
The median market forecast was for retail sales to have risen by 0.3 per cent in the month.
Australian building approvals fell 14.8 per cent to 14,144 units in April, seasonally adjusted, from an upwardly revised 16,610 units in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.
In the year to April, building approvals were up 21.3 per cent.
The median market forecast was for building approvals to have fallen five per cent in the month, for a rise of 33.9 per cent in the year.
Mr Roberts said building approvals were showing some signs of pulling back.
"I would imagine nobody's views would have changed on this and obviously the Reserve Bank does nothing this afternoon and obviously it's going to be on hold for quite a few months."
Earlier in the morning the Australian dollar fell almost0.5 US cents on the release of weaker than expected manufacturing data.
Chinese manufacturing expanded at a slower pace in May, adding to signs that growth may moderate in the worlds third-biggest economy before rebounding slightly on the local retail data.
The Purchasing Managers Index fell to 53.9 from 55.7 in April, seasonally adjusted, Bloomberg reports.
"That was weaker than expected," Mr Roberts said.
He predicted the local unit would trade within a tight range this afternoon.
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