Australia’s currency declined for a sixth day against the U.S. dollar as signs growth in the South Pacific nation is slowing prompted traders to bet the central bank is likely to cut interest rates in October. New Zealand’s dollar reached a two-week low against the greenback as Asian stocks declined for a third day. Both South Pacific dollars climbed against the yen after Japan intervened in the foreign-exchange market for the first time since March to stem gains in its currency. “The market is still concerned about the possibility of a sharper-than-expected slowdown” in the Australian economy, said Callum Henderson, global head of currency research at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “There’s been some spillover from poor retail sales data yesterday.” The so-called Aussie fell to $1.0690 at 2:36 p.m. in Sydney from $1.0755 in New York yesterday, when it touched $1.0679, the lowest since July 19. The currency surged 2.1 percent to 84.51 yen, its biggest gain since March. New Zealand’s dollar dropped 1.2 percent to 85.31 U.S. cents from 86.35 cents, after earlier reaching 85.27 cents, its weakest since July 20. It climbed 1.5 percent to 67.56 yen from 66.55 yen, after falling to as low as 66.10 yen yesterday, the least since July 14. The MSCI Asia Pacific index of regional shares slumped 1.2 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.5 percent yesterday, snapping seven days of losses, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will consider another economic stimulus program to prevent a recession. The gauge slid 2.6 percent on Aug. 2. Rate-Cut Bets Yields on October interbank cash-rate futures fell to 4.52 percent on the Sydney Futures Exchange from 4.81 percent on Aug. 1. That indicates traders see a 92 percent chance of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia by October, Bloomberg calculations show. The central bank held its benchmark at 4.75 percent on Aug. 2. The so-called kiwi maintained losses against the dollar after Finance Minister Bill English said in Parliament the currency has reached levels no one could anticipate and New Zealand would prefer a lower exchange rate. New Zealand’s dollar has appreciated 8.3 percent in the past three months, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency indexes, a gauge of 10 developed-nation currencies. Australia’s benchmark 10-year bond yields rose 6 basis points to 4.70 percent from 4.63 percent. New Zealand’s two-year swap rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, was little changed at 3.59 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net

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