Aussie slips after RBA Lowe's remarks on weak spending

The Australian dollar edged lower against greenback today after remarks by President of the Australian Reserve Bank Philip Lowe on consumption, spending and gross domestic product.

Lowe stressed that the GDP growth met the RBA's forecasts, but consumption was "surprisingly" disappointing, while unemployment rates are still near high levels.

However, Lowe expressed his confidence that there will be a bounceback in consumers' consumption in the coming period, which will support spending.

He pointed out that the weak consumption figures for the third quarter of this year does not indicate looming risks on the horizon or the near future.

The Bank's chief hinted that the continuing risks from global markets, chief among those is the uncertainty over the US-China trade talks that negatively affect the global economy.

As for trading, AUD/USD fell 0.1% to 0.6815 as of 16:56 GMT, the pair hit a high of 0.6838 and a low of 0.68.