Rates At 0630 GMT Latest Change AUD/USD 1.0665 -0.76% AUD/JPY 84.65 +2.13% 6.50% May, 2013 4.2089% +0.1132 4.50% April, 2020 4.6661% +0.0954 10-Yr Spread To U.S. +210 bps +6 bps SFE Sep 3-Year Futures 95.85 -0.12 SFE Sep 10-Year Futures 95.27 -0.095 SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--The Australian dollar continued to probe its lowest levels since mid-July on Thursday, weighed by concerns the global economy is headed for a slowdown, while local data remains weak. Moves by Japan's Ministry of Finance to weaken the yen also weighed on the Aussie as the U.S. dollar strengthened across the region. It was the third time in less than a year Japanese authorities have attempted to protect the country's exporters by pushing the yen lower. The Bank of Japan also cut short a scheduled two-day meeting and marginally eased monetary policy further. "Although this complements the currency intervention effort, the easing is too timid to impact the yen materially," said Gareth Berry, a strategist at UBS. At 0630 GMT, the Australian dollar was at US$1.0665, down from US$1.0747 late Wednesday and off a 30-year high of US$1.1080 last week. Against the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar was at Y84.65, up from Y82.885. Traders said the Aussie could be in for further losses as markets continue to price in a number of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia over the next year as growth in the non-mining sector slows to a crawl. Australia's biggest companies are expected to report weakened profits in coming weeks, highlighting the rift between the booming mining sector and many other areas crunched by the elevated Australian dollar like retailing and manufacturing. The RBA will announce revised forecasts for economic growth and inflation Friday. Growth is expected to be sharply lower, reflecting a slow start to the year while inflation is expected to be revised higher. David Scutt, a trader at Arab Bank, said the RBA's forecasts would cancel each other out Friday, leaving the global uncertainty and share markets to set the currency's direction. Grant Turley, senior currency strategist at ANZ Bank, said the Australian dollar could slide to US$1.05 by the end of the week. He said the RBA forecast revisions and U.S. payrolls data on Friday were likely to keep investors moving to the sidelines. Australian share closed near 13-month lows with heavy selling of banks featured. Some traders said the exodus was fueled by hedge funds liquidating their exposure to banks. -By James Glynn, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4685; james.glynn@dowjones.com (Data provided by Reuters)

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