Lawrence Villamar

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for the first time on Sunday, hinted that her government may ultimately accept a write-off of Greek debt in the future; but stated that Athens first had to fulfil their fiscal targets, including posting a budget surplus by 2014/2015.

As expected the Australian dollar began the day on a stronger note following better than expected Chinese PMI data over the weekend, although this didn't last long as attentions turned to todays big release in the RBA minutes.

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It was a familiar story for the Australian dollar last week which traded within a tight range of less one full US Cent against the greenback.

An increase in new home sales of 3.4 percent in October combined with a surprise increase in private new capital expenditure saw the Australian dollar well supported during intraday trade yesterday.

It was a familiar story for the Australian dollar yesterday which has once again failed to break free from recent ranges.

Russia may be discreetly propping up Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria by helping to print bank notes that pays for Assad's soldiers and civil servants.

Asian financial markets and regulatory bodies need to understand and learn from the mistakes of the West or risk having their own interests trampled upon, said the chief executive of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.

Despite what has been an eventful 24 hour period the response by the Australian dollar has been anything but. Maintaining a recent range of 1.0440 – 1.0480 against its US Counterpart investors still appear reluctant in taking the higher yielding unit above tested resistance levels of 1.05.

Having gained more than one percent last week against its US Counterpart the Australian dollar maintained levels close to 3-week highs yesterday.

Argentina could less than a month away from defaulting on approximately $24 billion worth of debt.

Switzerland could soon scrap tax breaks for wealthy foreigners after Swiss socialists and labour unions succeeded in putting the country's 150 year-old tax law up to a popular vote.

In what was an overall positive week for the Australian dollar which was supported by extended gains across equity markets as volumes remained thin given the United States celebration of Thanksgiving.

The Aussie rallied to an intraday high on Thursday of US104 cents after Chinese economic data revealed manufacturing growth. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 50.4 in November compared with 49.5 in October.

The Aussie took a tumble on Wednesday as Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European Central Bank failed for a second week in a row to reach an agreement on how to get Greece's debt down to a manageable level.

The Aussie opens lower today at 1.0360 after a mixed 24 hours on global markets. At time of writing, Euro zone finance ministers were still locked in meetings aimed at reaching an agreement with the IMF over the latest Greek bailout plans.

This week, the EU will decide if Greece should be allowed to receive the latest tranche of 31.5 billion euros in bailout funds. Delay and disagreement amongst international creditors over how to make Greece's debt more sustainable has raised fresh doubts over Athens' long-term fiscal health.

The Philippines government may attempt to revive a hugely unpopular 2009 bill that aimed to levy a tax for all mobile phone text messages, claimed a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday, with a new 'sin tax' on alcohol and tobacco also expected to be passed as early as next week.

In the absence of any local economic data, the Aussie traded in a narrow band for much of Monday's local session.

The Aussie opens the new week lower at 1.0330 on global growth concerns and the prospect of lower domestic interest rates.

Risk has been removed from the market place in a big way over the past 24 hours as witnessed by a notable fall in the Australian dollar.

The Australian dollar found some support in early morning trade yesterday after consumer confidence surprisingly jumped in October by 5.2 percent.

Danish lawmakers have axed a controversial "fat tax" a year after its implementation, saying the measure was hurting local businesses and failed encourage healthier eating habits.

The United States is on track to overtake oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top oil producing nation by 2017, according to the latest report by the International Energy Agency.

The Australian dollar has broadly struggled against its US Counterpart over the past 24 hours.

It has been a steady rise for the Australian dollar over the past 24 hours with a slight change in risk sentiment over the early parts of this week favouring the higher-yielding asset.

For the third time this year the Reserve Bank of Australia has downgraded the Nation’s economic prospects sighting weaker export prices, a stubbornly high dollar as well as a budget surplus which is taking its toll on growth.

The Aussie is relatively unchanged this morning after mixed data has seen us trade in a 50 point range for the last 24 hours.

Acting on the recommendations of industrialist Louis Gallois, France will grant businesses 20 billion euros ($25.7 billion) in annual tax credits as a way of boosting the country's economic competitiveness.