Dollar weaker on Germany rumours THE dollar has fallen after speculation of a downgrade to Germany's top credit rating. At 5pm AEST today, the currency was trading at $US1.0317, down from $US1.0363 yesterday. ANZ foreign exchange strategist Andrew Salter said the Aussie fell overnight on rumours that Germany's sovereign debt would be downgraded by a credit ratings agency and that hurt risk sentiment across markets. "That spooked markets quite a bit," he said. The rumour turned out to be true, though the downgrade came from the comparatively smaller Egan-Jones ratings company and not from any of the three major ratings agencies, Moody's, Standard & Poor's or Fitch. Mr Salter said the local currency remained weak throughout today's session, falling to as low as $US1.0269 before noon. He said the currency had weakened significantly since the start of the week following weaker than expected Chinese economic growth figures on Monday. Overall, the story remains that the Australian dollar is weaker and that's primarily a consequence of the Chinese growth.