Australian dollar weakens as investors take profits on sterling's fall

The Australian dollar has weakened off against sterling as investors took profits on the pound’s tumble after the UK’s annual budget. Sterling's gains were limited as investors remained cautious about the nation’s increasingly grim public finances, as the budget revealed Britain will run a budget deficit of 12.4% of GDP. Also, news that British manufacturing orders continued to fall in April, slightly more slowly than in March but still faster than economists had expected, capped the pound’s movement. All eyes will now be on the release of UK GDP and Retail Sales data this morning.