Australian Dollar: Despite some slightly disappointing home loan and investment lending data out of Australia yesterday the Aussie dollar edged higher in Asia bouncing back from an early Monday morning sell off to 0.8330. After pressing against the 84 cent mark for the majority of the local trading day offshore investors took the AUD to a high above 0.8420 before it began a steady decline during the U.S time-zone. With U.S equities trading marginally lower momentum on the global growth story dissipated and the AUD/USD retested the 0.8330 lows, bouncing slightly to open this morning at 0.8365. Today's NAB business conditions survey is sure to catch some media attention with many expecting a more upbeat assessment of local conditions.

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.8300 to 0.8400

Great Britain Pound: The decline in the Pound Sterling continued overnight as investors remained concerned about the sustainability of the recent rally to 1.7 and general business conditions in the region. After holding relatively firm in Asia yesterday early London traders sold GBP/USD down through 1.6650 with a second wave of selling following a break below 1.6600 in early U.S trade. In the lead up to Tuesday's RICS House Price Data and the BRC Retail Sales Monitor traders took the opportunity to cut long positions and initiate new shorts taking the Pound Sterling to this morning's open of 1.6475 and 1.9685 against the Greenback and Aussie.

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 1.9620 to 1.9750

New Zealand Dollar: The Kiwi received a boost from the third consecutive increase in New Zealand house prices as measured by government agency Quotable Value New Zealand. According to the report prices increased 0.7% in July from the previous month and 1.3% from their lows in April. The news helped the NZD climb to an intraday high near 0.6750 with offshore markets continuing the theme pushing it to an eventual overnight top at 0.6775. Today sees the release of second tier card spending data out of New Zealand with the Kiwi expected to remain well contained within its recent range against the Greenback.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.6720 to 0.6800

Majors: The big dollar lost some of Friday's gains during yesterday's Asian session trading slightly lower against the Euro and Yen. The Greenback entered offshore exchange hovering around 1.4200 and 97.30 with the Euro and Yen respectively and with a very light schedule for economic data releases it remained well contained heading into the U.S open. Currency markets seemed to lack direction as investors looked to equity markets for a lead. With the Dow Jones industrial peeling off throughout the day EUR/USD slid to retest Friday's lows of 1.4150 with stop loss selling beyond this level rumoured to have pushed the big dollar to within a whisker of 1.4100 against the Euro. A bounce late in the day sees EUR/USD exchanging at 1.4135 and USD/JPY at 97.10 ahead of today's Bank of Japan decision on interest rates. Although rates are widely expected to remain on hold the market will be looking for comments from the central bank following its meeting with the possibility of further upgrades in growth forecasts for the region likely to move the market momentarily.

Data Releases:

* AUD: Jul NAB Business Conditions
* NZD: Jul Card Spending
* USD: Jun Wholesale Inventories, Q2 prelim Unit Labour Costs & Q2 prelim Non-Farm Productivity
* GBP: Jun Trade Balance, Jul House Prices & Retail Sales Monitor
* EUR: German Jul forecast Consumer Price Index & Jul Wholesale Price Index
* JPY: BoJ Rate Decision & Jul Consumer Confidence
* CAD: Jul Housing Starts

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