Daily Forecast - 1/2/2010

:: Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar (0.8790) begins the new week under pressure and is at a six-week low. The Aussie was supported during local trade on Friday after domestic private credit data rose in December bolstering the case for a rate rise this week. After hitting a 24-hour high of 0.8961 during European trade, the local unit fell steadily during the New York session as strong U.S. economic data strengthened the greenback across the board. The U.S. economy expanded at an annualised rate of 5.7 per cent - the fastest pace in six years and exceeding economists' forecasts.

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.8775 to 0.8860

:: Great Britain Pound: An advance in UK consumer sentiment in December to minus 17 from minus 19 could not prevent pound sterling hitting a fresh three-week low of 1.5981 on Friday night. The pound hit a 24-hour high of 1.6178 however, the rally was short-lived as strong U.S. economic data released late in the session strengthened the greenback across the board. Meanwhile, the pound opens higher against the Australian Dollar (1.8130) and lower against the New Zealand Dollar (2.2750).

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 1.8100 to 1.8200

:: New Zealand Dollar: The New Zealand Dollar opens lower on Monday at US70 cents as the greenback strengthened against several major currencies on Friday night. The kiwi hit fresh 5-week lows at 0.7012 as the U.S economy expanded at an annualised pace of 5.7 per cent. Also keeping a lid on the local unit was Friday's domestic trade data which revealed a fourth consecutive quarterly decline in exports, down by 2.8 per cent in the three months to December. Meanwhile, the kiwi has outperformed the Australian Dollar and opens today at 0.7960.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.6975 to 0.7030

:: Majors: The big dollar rallied across the board on Friday spurred on by positive economic data. The greenback hit fresh 6-month highs against the Euro (1.3862) after data revealed the U.S. economy expanded at an annualised rate of 5.7 per cent - the fastest pace in six years and exceeding economists' forecasts. Traders also took the U.S. Dollar to a one-week high against the Japanese Yen (90.91) as U.S. consumer spending rose by 2 per cent in the last quarter of 2009 signalling the worlds largest economy is gathering momentum. the Euro continued its recent slide as data revealed on Friday the 16-nation zones unemployment rate hit 10 per cent in December and inflation accelerated in January.

:: Data Releases: