Australian Dollar Falls After China's Suspension Of Economic Dialogue With Canberra

The announcement by China's top economic planner that it was suspending activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue triggered a sell-off in the Australian dollar in the Asian session on Thursday.

In a statement, the National Development and Reform Commission said that it had "indefinitely suspended" its high-level economic dialogue with Australia.

Beijing said that the move was based "on the current attitude of the Australian Commonwealth Government toward China-Australia cooperation".

China is Australia's largest trading partner and disruptions between the two nations could have economic impact on Australia.

Last month, Australia revoked Victoria state's participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative amid escalating tensions between both nations.

Relations between China and Australia have deteriorated since Canberra's push to seek a probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

The aussie eased off to 84.24 against the yen, after rising to a 6-day high of 84.82 at 9:15 pm ET. The aussie is poised to find support around the 80.00 mark.

Minutes from the Bank of Japan's meeting on March 18 and 19 showed that members of the monetary policy board said that the country's economy is showing signs of inconsistent improvement but continues to be threatened by COVID-19.

The pandemic and its different variants continue to shroud the global economic recovery in uncertainty, the minutes said. The members said they will monitor the situation and will take additional easing measures if they're needed.

The aussie pulled back to 0.7701 against the greenback and 1.5576 against the euro, from its early 2-day high of 0.7758 and a 9-day high of 1.5479, respectively. The next possible support for the aussie is seen around 0.75 against the greenback and 1.57 against the euro.

The aussie weakened to 1.0718 against the kiwi, setting a 6-day low. On the downside, 1.06 is seen as its next likely support level.

Data from Statistics New Zealand showed that New Zealand building permits spiked a seasonally adjusted 17.9 percent on month in March - coming in at 4,218.

That follows the 19.3 percent monthly contraction in February.

The Australian currency reversed from an early 2-day high of 0.9512 against the loonie, falling to a 6-day low of 0.9462. The aussie is seen finding support around the 0.93 mark.

Looking ahead, U.K. final services PMI for April and Eurozone retail sales for March are due in the European session.

The Bank of England's monetary policy announcement will be out at 7:00 am ET. The Monetary Policy Committee is widely expected to hold the key rate at a record low of 0.10 percent and the quantitative easing programme at GBP 875 billion.

The U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended May 1 are scheduled for release in the New York session.