Australian Dollar
It was a consistent sell off for the Australian dollar for much of Friday’s session with crack’s starting to appear for the higher yielding asset. Given disappointing Chinese figures in the form of below forecast Industrial Production and Retail Sales, fears of a new financial crisis in Greece have also dampened demand for Australia’s currency. Given the Australian dollar has now dropped over 2.5 percent this year against the Greenback a break below parity would see lows not witnessed since December last year. With an ever increasing cloud now hanging over markets, headwinds out of Europe have clearly taken their toll on global sentiment as the Australian dollar opens 70 basis points lower against its US Counterpart this morning at a rate of 1.0010.

We expect a range today of 0.9980 – 1.0080

New Zealand Dollar
A sharp drop in commodities, falling equity markets combined with an ongoing political stalemate in Greece all pointed towards a weaker New Zealand dollar for much of Fridays Session. Having traded to an overnight low of 0.7804 against its US Counterpart the shine has certainly come off the Kiwi over the past week. With data releases out of China also proving to be far from promising it comes as little surprise to see the New Zealand Dollar again testing critical support levels just above the 78 US Cents. Whilst investors are starting to ask the question of what would happen should Greece leave the Euro-zone, of more immediate importance are local Retail Sales which are due for release in early morning trade today with any drop larger than the expected reading of negative 0.7 percent likely see another move lower.

We expect a range today of 0.7750 - 0.7870

Great British Pound
The Great British Pound was sold off overnight Friday with investors unwilling to hold long positions in basically any currency other than the Greenback. After starting the day at a rate of 1.6138 against its US Counterpart upside momentum was limited as the Sterling traded to an eventual low of 1.6061. With a nationwide consumer confidence result coming in well below expectation, Greece’s inability to form a coalition government have global markets on a knifes edge given another election may be required. Meanwhile this morning, a quick look at the cross rates shows the Sterling still remains the best pick of a bad bunch holding on to its recent gains against both the Australian dollar (1.6034) and the New Zealand dollar (2.0566)

We expect a range today of 1.5980 - 1.6080

Majors:
Despite a measure of Consumer Confidence unexpectedly rising in the world’s largest economy for the month of April, the highest reading since January 2008 fell well short of what was required to return markets into positive territory on Friday. With JP Morgan announcing a full 2 Billion Dollar loss and a string of disappointing releases out of China the overall theme across markets remained the same. Adding to risk aversion and warranting the consistent rise of the Greenback, voters remain clearly agitated by the austerity measures imposed by restrictive bailout packages. Whilst it appears unlikely that Greece will able to form a coalition any time soon the shared currency has remained remarkably resilient, given everything thrown at. Having traded between a 24 hour range of (1.2904 -1.2956) against its US Counterpart the EURO opens still noticeably lower this morning at a rate of 1.2890. With Greece’s membership to the Euro-Zone still remaining questionable and Sarkozy’s loss of power in Italy, approaching elections in Germany are likely to inflict further pain on an already fragile market

Data releases

AUD:
Home Loans m/m

NZD: Retail Sales m/m

JPY:
CGPI y/y

GBP: No data today

EUR:
Industrial Production m/m

USD:
No data today