Aussie, Canadian dollar fall as commodities extend slide

Edinburgh

THE currencies of commodity exporters led declines in the foreign-exchange market, with Australia's dollar extending its biggest loss in a month and South Africa's rand sliding to a record.

Canada's loonie slumped to an 11-year low versus the US dollar, while Norway's kroner took its three-day drop to more than 2 per cent as iron ore fell for a sixth day and oil stayed near the lowest since 2009. The rand weakened as data showed that South Africa's current-account deficit widened and manufacturing shrank more than economists predicted.