Australian dollar edges down amid decreasing retail spending

The value of the Australian dollar slipped from hovering near its top rate against the U.S. dollar on Monday in response to a government report noting retail spending in the nation dropped, according to Bloomberg.

The likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce interest rates when it convenes on Tuesday strengthened. The Aussie also fell in value against the Japanese yen on Monday, marking its first decline against the monetary unit of the Pacific Rim nation in the past five trading sessions.

"The market has got a high chance of a rate cut priced in for tomorrow and this number isn't going to change that," currency strategist Joseph Capurso with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney told the news source. "If they do deliver a cut, the Aussie might fall, but the major push to the Aussie from the RBA is going to come from their statement."

The New Zealand dollar also fell against the world's reserve currency on Monday, dropping from its top value in about five months.

Dow Jones Newswires reports the Aussie was continuing to live in the afterglow of uplifting economic data released this past Friday regarding positive job market news in the U.S., host of the globe's largest economy.