The Australian dollar weakened on Tuesday on the back of a softer stock market and as investors were reluctant to take fresh positions ahead of interest-rate decisions in the United States and Australia. Looming rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are dominating thinking and are expected to give the market a more certain direction in the second half of the week. "People are still running with this theme that global growth is slowing or moderating quicker than people first thought and (Australian) building approvals data today was quite weak," ABN AMRO currency strategist, David Mozina, said. "The likelihood of another interest rate hike is really becoming less and less likely now as each new bit of data hits the screens in Australia." Mozina said he expects weaker retail sales data on Wednesday