Australian Dollar Lower; Market Awaits RBA Speech

 
   By James Glynn 
 

        SYDNEY--The Australian dollar was lower in Asia Tuesday ahead of a speech by central bank Governor Glenn Stevens in Melbourne.
        The Reserve Bank of Australia has not published the topic of his speech, which has added to the air of uncertainty ahead of its delivery at 0825 GMT.
        The RBA has been an avid jawboner of the elevated Australian dollar for some time now, making further comments about that issue likely.
        Concerns have also grown about the pace of house price increases in major capitals and the rate of lending to property speculators. The RBA and the banking regulator have said they would announce measures to curb lending to property investors before the end of the year.
        At 0530 GMT, the Australian dollar changed hands at US$0.8718, compared with US$0.8784 late Monday.
        Earlier Tuesday, the RBA said in minutes of its Nov. 4 policy meeting that recent action by the Bank of Japan, and the intent of Japanese investment funds to allocate more funds in overseas markets, would act to keep the Australian dollar high.
        "Members noted the potential for these policy actions to increase the size of capital outflows from Japan in pursuit of more attractive yields on various assets in Australia," the Reserve Bank said.
        "Such flows could hold the Australian dollar at a higher level than economic fundamentals would imply." Data on Monday showed Japan's economy sliding back into recession.
        -Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        November 18, 2014 00:31 ET (05:31 GMT)