THE bad news out of Washington as talks to resolve the US fiscal cliff broke down pushed the dollar lower as investors ran to the safe haven of the greenback.
At 5pm AEDT,the dollar was trading at$US1.0453,down US0.38c.
Risk appetite fell after US house Speaker John Boehner appeared to signal that he was unable to reach an agreement with his rank-and-file politicians,leading investors to question whether Washington would be able to avoid a set of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect on January 1.
That weighed on investors'risk appetite,despite a string of strong US data.
The US economy expanded 3.1 per cent in the third quarter;sales of previously owned homes grew last month to the highest level in three years;and the Philadelphia Fed's business activity index posted a strong turnaround in December.
