The Australian dollar is lower against a US counterpart weighed down by the threat of a US government shutdown.

At 0635 AEDT on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth 79.99 US cents, down from 80.14 US cents on Friday.

The US on Friday dollar held near a three-year low versus a basket of currencies, poised for a fifth week of falls and its longest losing streak since May 2015 as worries over a possible US government shutdown weighed.

Westpac’s Imre Speizer says the shutdown would continue to weigh on the US dollar with talks to continue on Monday.

“US shutdown talks continue into early Monday and will weigh on USD and bonds,” he said in a morning note.

“The shutdown risks in US continued to weigh on USD even through the lift in yield, also partially due to shutdown risks as well as the inflation expectation lift, saw currency markets consolidate in late US trading.

“(The) AUD and NZD remained firm, despite pulling back from early extremes.”

There are no major event risks for the local currency on Monday.

“Although the AUD pulled back from Friday’s highs into the NY close, the 0.8040-50 area should come under pressure again unless there is an early resolution of the US shutdown,” Speizer said.

The Aussie dollar is also lower against the yen and the euro.

AAP

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