Liontrust's Williams: Australia will remain a bad news story

Mark Williams, manager of the Liontrust Asian Income fund, says the 6% fall for the Aussie against the dollar last month may just be the start of the bad news for the country's economy.

September has seen a material decline in the Australian dollar against the US$ which at writing on the 25th of September has fallen 5.8%, and is now 7.2% lower than this year's peak. The equity returns ytd are marginally negative (-0.8%) in US$ terms and we see no reason to increase our relatively low exposure to the market given the negative dynamics are likely to continue. Signs of Australia's weakness have emerged in what has, at best, been mixed recent data. Although August saw a record high additional 121,000 jobs, the unemployment rate remains stubbornly elevated at 6.1%. Mor...