Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar opens little-changed today against its U.S. counterpart at 0.9150. Despite a poor lead from local equities, the Aussie held onto support around the 0.9130 where buyers emerged pushing it up towards an intraday high of 0.9182. Supporting the unit was a positive quarterly NAB business confidence survey which increased by 20 points. The Aussie managed to squeeze higher in early European trade hitting 0.9217 before a gradual sell-off during the New York session. Third-quarter inflation data will be announced at 11:30am AEDT today where a lower-than-expected headline figure will have the potential to delay or reduce the next interest rate hike and as a result, move the Australian Dollar lower.

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.9080 to 0.9200

Great Britain Pound: Pound Sterling opens higher against the U.S. Dollar today at 1.6385 after a Confederation of British Industry report showed U.K. retail sales climbed to a two-year high in October. The data was in stark contrast to last week's negative GDP outcome and had traders scaling back their expectations as to any further quantitative easing measures by the Bank of England. The pound hit an overnight high of 1.6438 and rallied against several other major rivals including the Australian Dollar (1.7890) and the New Zealand Dollar (2.2010).

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 1.7750 to 1.7960

New Zealand Dollar: The New Zealand Dollar opens marginally lower against the greenback today at 0.7440 after the Prime Minister John Key said yesterday the currency is overvalued. During in an interview in Kuala Lumpur, Mr Key said we would prefer a lower exchange rate to help our exporters and to rebalance the economy. The Prime Minister also noted that he would be surprised if rates were to rise during the remainder of 2009. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand are widely tipped to leave rates on hold tomorrow at 2.5 per cent. The currency initially moved lower on the comments but recovered to close the local session at 0.7480.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.7380 to 0.7480

Majors: The greenback and yen both moved higher against the Euro overnight after weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data prompted another bout of risk aversion. The Euro opens at 1.4800, marginally above the overnight low of 1.4770. The U.S. Conference Board's confidence data unexpectedly plunged to 47.7 for the month of October, down from a revised 53.4 in September. Consumer spending accounts for 70 per cent of the U.S. economy. A separate U.S. home-price index climbed 1 per cent in August but was not enough to curtail a reduction in demand for higher yielding currencies such as the Euro and the Australian Dollar in exchange for the Japanese Yen (91.78) and the greenback.

Data Releases:

  • AUD: CPI, Q3
  • CAD: No data today
  • EUR: No data today
  • GBP: No data today
  • JPY: Retail Sales, Sep
  • NZD: Business Confidence, Oct
  • USD: Durable goods, New Home Sales, Sep

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.

Regards,
OzForex Dealers

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