Investing.com - The Aussie dropped in Asia on Wednesday as third quarter GDP posted an unexpected fall.
AUD/USD was quoted at 0.7423, down 0.51%, while USD/JPY rose 0.22% traded at 114.72.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.07% to 100.58.
In Australia a busy data day with the AIG construction index for November at 46.6, a tick up from 45.9 and third quarter GDP down 0.5%, well below the 0.3% gain seen quarter-on-quarter and at a 1.8% 2.5% pace year-on-year, compared to a rise of 2.5% expected.
The GDP fall, the biggest since 2008, is likely one of the biggest forecasting misses by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which may have projected GDP growth of around 0.5%, according to calculations done by
economists. While the RBA expects GDP to rebound in the fourth quarter, the softer-than-expected outcome will put more focus on upcoming labor market data and lead to an explicit easing bias from current bias which is
tilted towards neutral.
Overnight, the dollar rose on overwhelming expectations of the first rate hike in a year by the Federal Reserve next week.
In the U.S., data showed that the trade deficit widened to a four month high of $42.6 billion in October from a revised $36.2 billion in September, as imports rose to the highest level in 14 months.
A separate report showed that labor productivity rebounded in the third quarter, with the fastest rate of growth in two years. Factory orders rose 2.7%, more than the 2.6% gain seen month-on-month for October.