Daily Forecast - 16/3/2010

:: Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar opens lower today against the greenback at 0.9135. The unit peaked early yesterday at 0.9190 on speculation the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise rates again in April to prevent a bubble in local asset prices. Once again the unit ran into strong resistance around this level before gradually working its way lower to head into the European session changing hands at 0.9130. Moody's investor services stated that the U.K and U.S. had moved substantially closer to losing their AAA ratings which curbed risk sentiment and pushed the Aussie to a session-low 0.9094. Investors will today turn their attention to the RBA''s March meeting minutes scheduled for release today.

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.9110 to 0.9190

:: Great Britain Pound: Pound Sterling's two-day winning streak against the greenback came to an abrupt end last night and opens on Tuesday at 1.5050. Moody's investor services stated that the UK has moved substantially closer to losing their AAA credit grade. Budget deficit concerns have weighed heavily on the pound this year. Meanwhile, the pound is weaker against both the Australian Dollar (1.6450) and the New Zealand Dollar (2.1440).

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 1.6400 to 1.6520

:: New Zealand Dollar: The New Zealand Dollar opens lower against the greenback today at 0.7019 after another session of failed attempts to get through the 0.7050 area. In the absence of any local economic data, the unit gradually moved lower and headed into the European session trading at 0.7020. Moody's investor services stated that the U.K and U.S. had moved substantially closer to losing their AAA ratings curbed risk sentiment and pushed the Kiwi to a session-low 0.6985. Meanwhile, the kiwi is trading at 0.7660 against the Australian Dollar.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.6980 to 0.7045

:: Majors: The euro started yesterday's Asian session at 1.3775 before falling 50pts during the day. Overnight the Euro-Zone unemployment figures were released revealing a 0.2% decline in employment representing the third straight quarter of smaller declines. Despite this news the Euro continued to decline against the Greenback as EU Finance Ministers sparred over aid for Greece dampening investor appetite for higher yielding assets. Both Euro and Yen hit overnight lows of 1.3638 and 90.34 in the aftermath of better than expected US economic data. Ahead of today's potentially hawkish statements from the US Federal Reserve, both the Yen and Euro open at 90.50 and 1.3673 respectively.

:: Data Releases: