Australia: It was a quiet night for currencies overnight, the AUD grinding higher at one stage, back above USD0.9000.

Risk aversion was again the main theme offshore following the release of worse than expected US jobs figures and industrial production in the Euro-zone.

After Wednesday night's rather large sell-off, the AUD was able to hold above support of USD0.8900 during yesterday's local session despite some weaker than expected Australian jobs numbers.

The reported rise in the unemployment rate from 5.1% to 5.3% in July further cemented the view that the RBA will be hold for the remainder of 2010, this weighed on the AUD.

As we moved into offshore trading the AUD popped back above USD0.9000 on some buying interest before settling back to around USD0.8950 as risk aversion took hold. With the lack of any data today the AUD is expected to trade sideways today with support remaining at 0.8915.

Majors: The USD continued to be supported overnight as safe haven interest saw the greenback advance against most of the major currencies.

Rising fears of an economic slowdown still plagued the market as weaker than expected jobless claims in the US weighed on investors confidence.

The EUR was hurt when it was reported that Industrial production in the Euro-zone fell unexpectedly in June, following declines in output in France and Germany.

The flight to safety had Japanese officials worried that the strength in the JPY will hurt Japan's export driven economy.

Japan's finance minister threatened to act against the JPY, while the Bank of Japan governor issued an emergency statement warning against substantial fluctuations in exchange rates following the dollar's drop to a 15-year low on Wednesday.

With no top tier data due for release tonight, the market will trade sideways heading into the weekend.

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