Australian Dollar Weakens as Business Profits Decline

The Australian dollar dropped today on the concerns about the Korean conflict and the European sovereign-debt. The currency also fell after the report showed that the business profits in Australia unexpectedly declined.

The Australian Company Gross Operating Profits dropped 1.5 percent in the third quarter. It followed the huge increase by 17.0 percent in the second quarter. The median forecast was the increase by 4.3 percent.

The Australian currency was also weakened by the concerns about the conflict between North and South Korea and the spreading of the European debt troubles. The Korean conflict is negative for the Aussie, as the Australian currency is often called, not just because it’s the commodity currency, but also as the traders consider it to be the Asian currency. South Korea signaled that it desires to retaliate in an answer to North Korea’s attack on the disputed island.

AUD/USD dropped from 0.9629 to 0.9599 as of 04:11 GMT today after it reached the intraday high of 0.9660. EUR/AUD traded at about 1.3636 after it fell yesterday from 1.3720 to 1.3627. AUD/JPY slumped from 81.14 to 80.75, following the advance to 81.37.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.