At 12pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, the currency was trading at 70.35 US cents, down from 70.96 cents on Monday.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief currency strategist Richard Grace says weaker global equity markets, particularly in Asia, have been pushing the local unit down.

“I don’t see too much upside to it, we expect this to continue,” he told AAP.

He said while the Australian dollar has been falling, currencies of countries with large current account surpluses, like the yen, have been rising against the greenback.

“Australia doesn’t have a current surplus,” Mr Grace added.

At 8.42am (AEDT) on Tuesday, the share price futures index was down 64 points at 4,859.

In local economic news on Tuesday, the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey, the National Australia Bank’s monthly business survey for January and the Housing Industry Association’s new home sales figures for December are all due out.

No major equities news is expected.

NEW YORK – Wall Street has sunk sharply as financial stocks sell off amid worries about interest rates and investors back off from richly valued tech and consumer stocks amid persistent fears of a global slowdown.

“Equities are in a ‘go-nowhere-fast’ mode, with a downward bias in the near term,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Investors have also worried about the unravelling of rich valuations in a narrow group of stocks that led the market higher through most of 2015.

“What you’ve seen regarding technology and other sectors is that the (higher) valuations are being ratcheted back down closer to the underlying fundamentals that are going to support their growth, if its there,” said Ryan Larson, head of US equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management in Chicago.

LONDON – Britain’s top share index has fallen to its lowest level in more than two weeks, weighed down by falls in banking stocks to multi-year lows and weakness in the tech sector.

Concerns over the state of the global economy mounted, bank margins in a negative interest rate environment after Europe’s and Japan’s central banks delivered dovish messages in January, and over a possible British vote to leave the European Union later this year weighed on markets.

“The banks have continued to have a weak start to the year on concerns (over) dividend cuts and weaker EM growth … We (also) see some concerns on the outlook for Brexit if it occurs,” said Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, noting that swings in oil prices also had a big effect on the commodity-heavy FTSE.

“This is a down-trending market so, for the time being, that 5900.00 level for the FTSE…,” said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group.

HONG KONG – Asian shares pared losses as a weaker yen helped Japan’s Nikkei snap a four-day losing streak, though trade was thin with many regional markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

“The Chinese currency is under quite notable market pressure and that requires quite active intervention from the authorities,” said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ currency economist Lee Hardman in London.

“That poses downside risk to Asian currencies and the Aussie, which is seen as the China proxy.”

ATHENS – Greece’s lenders still need to be persuaded that Athens can plug a bigger-than-expected fiscal gap when talks on reforms needed under an international bailout resume next week, the finance minister says.

NEW DELHI – India says its economy grew 7.3 per cent in the last three months of 2015, a rate of expansion that puts the South Asian nation ahead of China’s 6.8 per cent growth during the same period.

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum will cut 1,000 jobs at its struggling Twickenham mine but have ruled out a sale of the mine.

ENERGY

Oil prices have fallen after a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Venezuela failed to reassure investors of measures to bolster sagging prices.

“We need oil to stabilise to provide some confidence for investors, partly because to a degree, investors’ stress is high, earnings visibility is low, and market internals continue to weaken,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

PRECIOUS METALS

The price of gold has jumped two per cent to a seven-and-a-half-month high, briefly nudging above the psychological level of $US1,200 an ounce, as sliding stock markets and worries over global economic growth prompt investors to seek safety.

Stock indexes worldwide tumbled on persisting fears of a global economic slowdown, while benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit their lowest in a year on demand for assets deemed less risky, such as bullion.

“The drive for gold today is purely tied to the risk type of trade,” said Eli Tesfaye, senior market strategist for brokerage RJO Futures in Chicago, pegging the next target level at $US1,210.

“People have to move their equities out of there, have to put (money) into safer assets.”

BASE METALS

Nickel has bounced after touching its lowest in more than 12 years and most other industrial metals also climbed on a weaker US dollar and a decline in selling from China.

Markets were helped by China’s closure for Lunar New Year holidays as there was less selling from funds which have weighed on the market with bearish bets, a London trader said.

“The metals markets are showing signs of stabilising, and with the absence of Chinese selling, I think we’re reasonably well set for slightly higher prices, without being over-bullish,” said the trader, who declined to be named.

Also supporting metals was the US dollar, which fell to a 15-month low against the yen and softened against a basket of currencies.

ASX stocks to watch Tuesday, February 9

BHP – BHP BILLITON

FMG – FORTESCUE METALS GROUP

RIO – RIO TINTO

Mining stocks could again come into focus with little other equities news on the horizon on Tuesday.

ORG – ORIGIN

OSH – OILSEARCH

STO – SANTOS

WPL – WOODSIDE PETROLEUM

Energy stocks could be in for another hit as oil prices resume their downwards path.

AAP