Bell FX Currency Outlook The Australian Dollar opens unchanged after a lacklustre overnight session.
Australia: The Australian Dollar has opened little changed after a quiet night of trade on world markets. A night of limited price action saw most major currency pairs end at around the same levels, with the CAD being the exception.

The AUD opened at 1.0545 against the Greenback this morning after tracking sideways overnight. Today in Australia the RBA minutes from their December 4 Board Meeting are due.

The RBA cut domestic interest rates by a further 25bps to 3.0% at this meeting.

Governor Stevens noted domestically they were concerned that the investment outlook outside mining is subdued and the exchange rate remains uncomfortably high.

They also noted that whilst growth in China had stabilised, the rest of Asia saw growth prospects dampened. Given the next board meeting will not be until February 2013, not much forward guidance on monetary policy is expected. We see a quiet day today in our markets.

Majors: With little news or data flow overnight, markets were relatively subdued. European equities ended a choppy session marginally lower whilst US markets shrugged off weaker than expected manufacturing data to end slightly higher.

News that US President Obama and Republican speaker Boehner met overnight for the third time to discuss the impending
fiscal cliff buoyed equity markets.

The S&P 500 gapped higher on rumours Republicans were willing to compromise on tax increases for those with incomes over USD 1 million per year, in exchange for cuts to entitlement programs.

The S&P rose 0.7% to 1,423 while the DJIA rose 0.4% to 13,191. European equities were little changed with the German DAX
ending 0.1% higher at 7,605 while the FTSE fell 0.2% to 5,912. Oil prices were mixed with WTI rising 0.5% to USD 87.4 per barrel, while Brent fell 0.3% to USD 107.9 per barrel.

Gold retraced early gains to end unchanged at USD 1,696 per ounce. Metals and commodities were mixed. Tonight will data released out of the UK and current account data out of the US.
Economic Calendar
17 DEC AU RBA Board - December Minutes
NZ Government Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update
UK CPI
US Current Account Balance

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