Dollar lower after weak housing figures

THE dollar closed lower after worse than expected housing finance figures soured the mood on an already lacklustre trading day.

THE dollar closed lower after worse than expected housing finance figures soured the mood on an already lacklustre trading day.

At 5pm AEDT, the local unit was trading at 100.71 US cents, down from yesterday's local close of 101.16 US cents.

Since 7am AEDT, the Australian dollar moved between a high of 101.04 US cents and a low of 100.62 US cents.

CMC markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer said the local unit began its decline when the Australian share market opened weaker than expected.

The mood was aggravated by weaker than expected data showing the number of home loans approved nationally in January fell 4.5 per cent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said total housing finance by value fell 5.3 per cent in January, seasonally adjusted, to $20.290 billion.

"It caught some traders off guard and saw the unit under pressure," Mr Waterer said.

"There really hasn't been any positives for the Aussie today."

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was off 0.84 per cent at 4767.8 points today, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 0.8 per cent, to 4,863.2 points.

Mr Waterer said the ongoing bloodshed in Libya continued to weigh on markets.

At 5pm AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 83.49 Japanese yen, up from yesterday's close of 83.23 yen, and at 72.56 euro cents, up from its previous close of 72.36.

The euro finished at 1.3878 US dollars, down from 1.3981 US dollars, and at 115.05 yen, up a touch from 115.03 .

The US dollar was at 82.90 Japanese yen, up from 82.28 yen yesterday.

Meanwhile, Australian bonds closed little changed.

At 4.30pm AEDT on the ASX 24, the March 10-year bond futures contract price was 94.435 (implying a yield of 5.565 per cent), down slightly from Tuesday's close of 94.440 (5.560 per cent).

The March three-year bond futures contract price was 94.890 (5.110 per cent), unchanged from the previous day's close.

RBC Capital markets economist Michael Turner described today's trading day as quiet, with no economic data to shift the market.

"It's been lacklustre ... a bit of a quiet one," he said.

Mr Turner said investor attention had been caught up in the ongoing conflict in Libya in recent weeks.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have launched air strikes on rebels opposing his rule, as the United States says any no-fly zone over the country will need to have full UN backing.

US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said they would plan a "full spectrum" of action against Gaddafi while US officials met with opposition members seeking to topple the veteran leader.

Mr Cameron said the world could not stand aside while Gaddafi did "terrible things" to the Libyan people.

The 90-day bank bill closed at 4.960 per cent, down from yesterday's close of 4.970 per cent, while the 180-day bank bill rate was at 5.130 per cent, up from 5.120 per cent.

The RBA's trade weighted index (TWI) was 74.8, down from 75.0 yesterday.