:: Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar opens higher today at 0.7149 and in the last 24 hours has been more up and down than the wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In local trade yesterday, the Aussie worked its way towards 0.7150 before running into strong resistance and was sold back down towards US71 cents. Some cracks in the wicket emerged overnight which saw it move down to a low of 0.7061 before a strong rally late in the New York session took it higher once more for a session peak of 0.7180. The Aussie also opens stronger against the Euro (0.5250), Yen (66.70) and Kiwi (1.2140).

- We expect a range today in the AUD/USD rate of 0.7100 to 0.7200

:: Great Britain Pound: Pound Sterling opens at 1.4685 against the greenback, little-changed from this time yesterday. The overnight range saw a low of 1.4427 and a high of 1.4739. The pound is likely to remain under pressure this week as the economy slides deeper into recession and The Bank of England are set to cut interest rates later this week to the lowest level in history. The pound also remains weak against the Australian and New Zealand Dollars and opens today at 2.0540 and 2.4934 respectively.

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 2.0400 to 2.0650

:: New Zealand Dollar: The New Zealand Dollar opens steady today against the U.S. Dollar at 0.5887. Overnight the kiwi traded between a low of 0.5801 and a high late in the session of 0.5916. In the absence of any major local economic data lately, the kiwi has been underpinned by positive movements in commodity prices and an increase in risk appetite. The kiwi has picked up more ground on the cross rates and opens stronger against the Euro (0.4331) and Japanese Yen (55.03).

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.5830 to 0.5920

:: Majors: The Euro has fallen sharply overnight against its U.S. counterpart prompted mainly by profit-taking following the run higher in late December. The Euro stands at 1.3579 this morning compared to 1.3917 this time yesterday. Also weighing on the Euro are concerns that economic conditions in the Euro-zone will continue to deteriorate and that the European Central Bank will need to cut interest rates further. The greenback also rallied against the Japanese Yen and opens at 93.32 as U.S. construction spending for November fell 0.6 per cent which was half the figure of most economists forecasts. There is a wide range of economic data due to be released in the United States this week culminating in the highly-anticipated December jobs data.

:: Data Releases:

• AUD: No data expected

• CAD: No data expected

• EUR: German and Eurozone PMI, Dec; Eurozone CPI, Dec

• GBP: Nationwide House Prices, Nov

• JPY: No data expected

• NZD: No data expected

• USD: FOMC Meeting minutes

:: 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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