Private capital expenditure in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$38.291 billion.
That was well shy of forecasts for a decline of 1.3 percent following the downwardly revised 2.6 percent contraction in the third quarter (originally 3.6 percent).
Capex for buildings and structures dropped 3.5 percent to A$26.098 billion, while capex for equipment, plants and machinery plunged 8.6 percent to A$12.192 billion.
On year, private capex dropped 5.7 percent as spending on buildings added 0.3 percent but spending on machinery plummeted 16.3 percent.
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