Australian firms scaled back investment spending by 9.2% in the third quarter from the second, a much steeper drop than the 2.9% fall economists had been expecting. In the year through September, total new capital expenditure fell by 20.0%, according to the government statistician Thursday. The report also showed that companies expect to invest A$120.4 billion in the current fiscal year, which is 20.9% lower than the corresponding estimate for the previous fiscal year. In the third quarter, spending on equipment, plants and machinery slumped by 8.2% from the second quarter, driven by a continuing drop in mining ... (full story)