FOREX

As expected the falls continued from where we opened yesterday as equities and commodities dragged the Aussie lower and the US dollar strengthened although the decline was somewhat subdued bottoming out around 1.0230.

The solid gains in the Aussie yesterday could only be held onto until the start of the US session with strong US data and anticipation of the Fed’s minutes sending us on a slide back through 1.03.

In minutes released from The Reserve Bank of Australia’s February policy meeting, markets effectively lengthened the odds of a near-term interest rate cut whilst longer-term maintaining the easing bias for the benchmark rate which currently sits at 3 percent.

The last 24 hours for the Aussie have been fairly quiet with the currency held in a fairly tight range and opening close to where we left it.

The Aussie’s march back towards 1.04 came to a bit of standstill on Friday night with risk aversion sending it back down towards 1.03, reversing gains that began earlier in the week.

The Australian dollar has done well to consolidate the impressive gains seen across the higher yielding asset on Wednesday.

The Australian dollar has rallied from a four-month low against its US Counterpart over the past 24 hours well supported by strong gains across equity markets as well higher commodity prices.

The Aussie has fallen back below 1.03 again overnight however it did hold recent ranges, finding support above 1.0260 with markets lacking direction for the time being.

The weakness in the Aussie continued for much of our day on Friday after the RBA released their quarterly money policy report which showed a reduction in their growth and inflation forecasts.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The recent negative tone of the Australian Dollar was lifted after better than expected trade data from Germany, the US and China pushed the currency above 1.0300.

The Australian dollar dropped immediately yesterday following a weaker than forecast domestic retail reading.

Following a week in which the Australian dollar lost substantial ground against its US Counterpart the sell off continued intraday on Friday after a Chinese manufacturing gauge unexpectedly fell in the month of December

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar is trading higher, rebounding following several days of weakness

A former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) manager appears to have become wealthy by filching old currencies supposed to be burned. Evidence of the theft was accidentally discovered by another RBA employee who appeared on Thursday before the Melbourne Magistrate Court.

A strong turnaround in a report on business confidence yesterday has seen the Aussie rebound off recent lows and we now find it back around 1.0465.

Are the euro's gains just starting as the ECB balance sheet shrinks further from LTRO repayment? 278 European banks have repaid €137 bn in the first LTRO operation, which raised € 489 bn in December 2012.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian dollar softens despite positive Chinese data.

The main focus for the Aussie yesterday was the inflation data with many hoping it would provide further guidance on the RBA’s likely moves over coming months

Whilst investors were left generally disappointed by the fresh stimulus measures announced by the Bank of Japan yesterday, the open ended easing policy due to commence at the beginning of 2014 was viewed as a positive for currencies linked to the Asian growth story.

The Australian dollar has maintained its recent ranges against its US Counterpart in what has been a lacklustre session. In the absence of any local data markets in the United States also remained closed for a public holiday.

In positive news from Australia’s largest trading partner China’s economy grew at 7.9 percent in the final quarter of 2012 comfortably topping the forecasted figure of 7.8 percent.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has weakened slightly in Friday's night trade and opens up this morning around the 1.0500 level.

In a Westpac run survey consumer confidence surprisingly dropped in December with the Index now sitting below the levels of November 2011, when the RBA first started there easing cycle.

Unmoved by comments made by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke overnight on Monday the Australian dollar remained range bound for much of yesterday’s session.

The short term down-trend in the Aussie continued on Monday morning following a drop in job advertisements according to a report from ANZ.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar opens today's trading in the mid 1.0500's recovering from a relatively quiet session Friday night.

In a very busy week of trade, the Australian dollar failed to breach resistance levels in excess of the 1.06 mark despite improved trade figures from China as well bullish remarks from ECB President Mario Draghi.

The Australian dollar received a boost yesterday after data revealed China’s Trade Surplus surged to 31.6 Billion in December.

Having started the day around the 1.05 mark against its US Counterpart the Australian dollar headed south intraday. Dragging the local unit to lows of 1.0468 Australia’s trade deficit unexpectedly widened in November to $2.64 billion as stronger imports outstripped the pace of iron ore export growth.