The Australian dollar continued to weaken despite a positive reading for Chinese manufacturing, falling more than half a US cent overnight.
At 6.30am AEDT the Australian dollar was at 104.62 US cents, down from yesterday’s local close of 105.14 US cents.
Yesterday afternoon HSBC released its China purchasing managers' index (PMI) for January, showing a rise to 51.9, up from 51.5 the previous month.
A reading above 50 shows growth, anything below 50 represents a contraction. Despite the positive reading, the Australian dollar slid lower towards the end of the day.