Dollar virtually unchanged after China data

THE Australian dollar has held on to most of the gains made after weak Chinese economic data raised hopes of further stimulus measures from Beijing.

Australian dollar coins on a dark reflective background. Picture: iStock

THE Australian dollar has held on to most of the gains made after weak Chinese economic data raised hopes of further stimulus measures from Beijing.

At 0700 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 69.07 US cents, down from 69.11 cents on Tuesday.

Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Jason Wong said commodity currencies strengthened overnight as risk sentiment improved.

The Aussie was the second best performer, reaching 69.57 US cents at one point.

China’s gross domestic product figures released on Tuesday initially disappointed investors, dragging the Aussie dollar down. “But then, once people realised the data wasn’t as bad as feared, we saw a strong rally right through until the early hours of this morning,” Mr Wong said.

“That’s probably brought some selling pressure and we’ve come off those highs.” Mr Wong said there weren’t any huge surprises in China’s growth numbers.

“They marginally disappointed, but at the end of the day we all know the Chinese economy is slowing,” he said.

The country’s GDP edged down to 6.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2015 as trade and consumer spending weakened, dragging full year growth to its lowest in 25 years.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0700 AEDT ON WEDNESDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 69.07 US cents, from 69.11 cents on Tuesday

* 81.10 Japanese yen, from 81.39 yen

* 63.22 euro cents, from 63.52 euro cents

* 106.56 New Zealand cents, from 106.94 NZ cents

* 48.72 British pence, from 48.41 pence

(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Source: IRESS