The Australian dollar is trading lower today as the country awaits the final results of the federal election which should be known by the end of the day.

At 9.15am (GMT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US75.10c down from US75.37c in yesterday’s trade.

The decision to bring forward the election date by Australia’s current prime minister Malcolm Turnbull seems to have been an ill-fated decision, and may see him removed from office or at the least be stuck with a hung parliament with no clear majority,

In Asian markets the main focus was on the Australian election which saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to call an election backfire spectacularly after the vote failed to produce a clear winner as Australia became the latest country to fall victim to dysfunctional politics” noted Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in London.

Mr Hewson also noted that the Aussie dollar could be headed for further falls if the timing on a new government is prolonged further

“The big risk now is that any delay in forming a new government could well undermine the Australian economy as well as the Australian dollar, at a time when sentiment is already fragile.” He added

Also undermining the Australian dollar was the latest building approvals figure which hit the market at -5.2 percent against analysts’ expectations for a number of -3.2 percent fueling expectations that the RBA may continue their rate cutting cycle later in the year.