The Australian dollar fell for a fifth day against its U.S. counterpart as concerns that Europe’s debt crisis is deepening and the U.S. economy is slowing damped demand for higher-yielding currencies. The so-called Aussie sank to a one-month low versus the greenback before Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou holds a conference call today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The kiwi dollar slid for a fourth day against the yen ahead of U.S. data that may show retail sales slowed. “These problems in Europe will continue for some time and will certainly weigh on sentiment on the Aussie and kiwi,” said Janu Chan, an economist at St. George Bank Ltd. in Sydney. “Over the short term, we’re likely to see the Aussie quite volatile.” The Australian dollar fell to as low as $1.0210, the least since Aug. 11, before trading at $1.0214 as of 2:28 p.m. in Sydney from $1.0312 in New York yesterday. The Aussie slid to 78.58 yen from 79.35. New Zealand’s currency declined to 81.67 U.S. cents from 82.29 cents and to 62.83 yen from 63.33 yen. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares sank 1.9 percent, curbing demand for riskier assets. Papandreou’s call with Merkel and Sarkozy will be held after the Greek leader meets with ministers to discuss the progress of a five-year budget plan, according to an e-mailed statement from the premier’s Athens-based office. Merkel, in a German radio interview broadcast yesterday, said that an “uncontrolled insolvency” would further roil markets spooked by the prospect of a Greek default. U.S. Economy U.S. retail sales rose 0.2 percent in August following a 0.5 percent increase in July, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey taken before the Commerce Department releases the data today. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will hold a policy meeting tomorrow. New Zealand’s central bank will leave its official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 percent, all 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast. The Aussie earlier jumped as much as 0.6 percent against the U.S. currency as a private report showed Australia’s consumer confidence improved. Australia’s sentiment index rose 8.1 percent to 96.9 in September, ending a four-month decline, according to a Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute survey of 1,200 consumers taken Sept. 4-11 and released today in Sydney. To contact the reporters on this story: Masaki Kondo in Singapore at mkondo3@bloomberg.net; Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net

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