Australian dollar lower at noon | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

markets lowered demand for currencies such as the dollar. Wall Street closed lower overnight on disappointing housing data, which was weaker than forecast. Housing starts in the US rose by 0.5 per cent to 590,000 in September, below market expectations of a 610,000 increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.50 per cent. The share market followed the weak theme, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index down 0.27 per cent by 12:00. "It has come off a bit offshore inline with most commodity currencies that weakened offshore," Mr Gibbs said. "You could put it down to a softer Equity market in the US may have provided some support for the US dollar." Equity markets had rallied consistently over recent weeks on stronger-than expected earnings reports, but had subsided this week. "It's run out of juice on the upside, and hence it has corrected a little bit." Mr Gibbs said comments from a noted watcher of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that the central bank may reverse its recent rate rise if the economy weakens in time had some impact on the local currency. The RBA lifted the overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 per cent on October 6, its first tightening of monetary policy since March 2008. "It may have come off a bit after journalist reports on possible policy moves by the RBA," he said. "That could be weighing on the currency."