The Australian dollar has softened to a seven-month low following a suite of local economic data that came in worse than analyst expectations.
At 1535 AEDT, the Australian dollar fell as far as 101.17 United States cents, its lowest point since July 13.
The local unit closed the previous session at 102.36 US cents.
Earlier, data from the the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed building approvals fell against expectations in January, for the second consecutive month.
Company gross profits also fell in the December quarter, slightly more than analyst expectations.
Easy Forex senior dealer Francisco Solar said the data was hurting the Australian dollar.
"Definitely, that will keep the Aussie down somewhat during our session," he said.
But, he said, the key driver of the unit would be the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) monthly interest rate decision later this week.
"It (the Australian dollar) is definitely on the weaker footing and at the lower end of the range we've been stuck in for quite a number of months," he said.
"Now, with the RBA announcement coming out tomorrow, it could be the good excuse to break out of this range."
