No end in sight for soaring Australian dollar: Midday roundup

The Australian dollar continues to climb, hitting a three-month high overnight.

The currency traded as high as 106.86 US cents early this morning, but has since trailed off.

It also reached a 27-year high against the British pound, at 68.08 pence.

The strength of the currency comes after one of Russia’s senior central bankers, Alexei Ulyukayev, told Bloomberg Russia was about to begin buying Australian dollars in a bid to diversify its foreign currency reserves.

IMF cuts Australian growth forecast

In a briefing note prepared for a G20 meeting, the International Monetary Fund downgraded Australia’s growth forecast to 3.0%, down from 3.3%, according to a report in The Australian Financial Review.

The new estimate is well below figures presented by both the Reserve Bank of Australia and the federal government.

The RBA has predicted 4% GDP growth in 2012, while the government is forecasting 3.25%.

Any fall in economic growth will make it more difficult for the government to deliver its promised budget surplus.

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank chief says housing resilient

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chief executive Mike Hirst has said he is confident the residential property market will remain resilient.

“The view I hold is that if there is going to be a decline in property prices, it’ll be orderly and it’ll be two per cent here, three per cent there,” said in an interview with Business Spectator.

“Historically if property prices are beginning to fall, people just pull their properties off the market and don’t sell.

“I think it’s a great truism that the value of property in Australia is absolutely tied to employment. If people can afford to pay their loans, they will, regardless of what it’s worth, because they’ve got to live somewhere.”

Caterpillar posts soaring earnings

The world’s sales leader in bulldozers, excavators and other earthmoving equipment saw its fourth-quarter earnings rise 60%, and has predicted that demand for its mining and construction equipment will remain strong in 2012.

The company said it was more optimistic than it was three months ago that a global recession would not occur in 2012, and it expects the threat of a European recession to ease by the middle of the year.

Caterpillar exceeded analysts’ expectations for the quarter, and 2012 sales and profits that were similarly well above market expectations. It expects to earn $US72 billion in sales and revenue for 2012, compared to analyst forecasts of $US 67.3 billion

Australian shares open higher

The Australian sharemarket was higher this morning, with the S&P/ASX200 index up 33.3 points or 0.8% to 4304.6 at noon.

Among widely held stocks, most posted small rises, but News Corporation shed 2.66% to $18.33. Today the company retired 2 million shares pursuant to its share buyback program.

Aurora Oil & Gas Limited continued to slide lower, down 4.98% to $2.86. Onesteel Limited also lost 3.95%.

No end in sight for dollar: Midday roundup

Dollar, IMF, Caterpillar, Economy, Finance