Aussie dollar may be at earnings choke point: UBS (XJO) (by Sarah Turner)

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- UBS Australian-based equity strategists wrote Monday that "perhaps the Australian dollar has reached a choke point for the economy/earnings cycle." The strategists made the comment after noting that Australian shares have put in a relatively weak performance since the start of 2010, even though the Australian dollar has been strong and a currency has often historically been associated with a firm performance for the market, they said. Another reason for the performance divergence could be that economic activity is currently weaker than in other times of currency strength, they said. The S&P/ASX 200 index (au:xjo) is down 0.2% so far this year. The Australian dollar traded at $1.0262 on Monday, up 0.1%.