:: Australian Dollar: The Aussie dollar drifted lower in local trade on Friday after posting a high of 0.7130 in early morning trade. Throughout the Asian session a steady wave of selling saw it finish around 0.7080 with Europe continuing the theme, taking it to a low of 0.7010. The market remained nervous ahead of the U.S payroll data and as such reverted back to safe assets, dumping the AUD and other higher yielding currencies leading into the announcement. A better than expected result prompted an initial bounce back towards 71 cents however with the official U.S unemployment rate rising to 7.2% the Aussie pulled back to finish the week at 0.7025. In light of Friday's U.S data today's December ANZ job advertisement data may have more of an impact than usual with employment in Australia also to come under the microscope.

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.6920 to 0.7050

:: Great Britain Pound: After experiencing relatively calm trading in Asia on Friday the Pound Sterling exploded into action in offshore exchange jumping from a low of 1.5110 to a high of 1.5350 before dropping back to 1.5125. With several key data releases out of the U.K and the U.S volatility was back in a big way. U.K December PPI came in well above expectations however November Industrial Production fell more than economists had forecast. The cross rate had initially rallied from mid 2.14 level to a high of 2.1680 on the back of the jump in the GBP which also coincided with a fall in the Aussie however the move was reversed somewhat in U.S trade retreating back to 2.1450.

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 2.1400 to 2.1600

:: New Zealand Dollar: Despite the extremely volatile behaviour of currency markets on Friday the Kiwi dollar remained relatively stable. After experiencing a steady decline from 0.5965 in early Asia on Friday it found support around the 59 cent level before trading within a range of 0.5890 and 0.5950 for the entire offshore session. U.S unemployment data increased to its highest level since 1993 in December and with a weak global economy likely to persist for the foreseeable future the Kiwi dollar is struggling to maintain any consistent upside momentum.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.5850 to 0.5950

:: Majors: The markets were keenly anticipating the release of U.S payroll data on Friday and as such there was little movement in Asia. The big dollar hovered within a relatively narrow range between 91 and 91.50 against the Japanese Yen whilst in exchange with the Euro it held support at 1.3635. With fears that that up to 600k jobs may have been lost in December following the shocking ADP data earlier in the week EUR/USD pressed higher in London trade to post a high near 1.3750. Adding momentum to the upside move was a better than expected Euro-zone Retail Sales report which showed a 0.6% increase in November. Investors however were surprised with the U.S data coming in below expectations at 524k for the month sending EUR/USD crashing below support at 1.3635 to reach an overnight low of 1.3415 in late trade. Despite the better than expected data unemployment continues to rise with the official rate jumping 0.4% to 7.2%, its highest level since 1993 increasing pressure on Obama to stop the decline.

:: Data Releases:

• AUD: Dec ANZ Job Ads

• NZD: Dec PMI

• USD: Fedspeak

• GBP: Dec RICS House Prices

• EUR: German Dec Wholesale Price Index

• JPY: Nov Trade Balance

• CAD: Nov New House Price Index

:: Note: The above exchange rates are based on interbank rates. If you are considering a transfer then please login, register or call us for a live dealing rate.

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