6 April 2009 - Market Commentary

06.04.2009 (09:55)

:: Australian Dollar: After taking out the previous weeks highs at 71 cents the Aussie dollar roared higher early Friday in Asia to take out resistance at 72 to trade at its highest level since early January exchanging around 0.7225. Profit taking in late trading saw it enter London back at 0.7150 before several spikes back towards 72 cents after more poor U.S employment data. This morning sees it open around 0.7150 ahead of what is a massive week on the local data front with the RBA interest rate decision in the balance with a 50% chance of a 50 basis point rate reduction.

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

:: Great Britain Pound: The Pound Sterling received an early boost on the back of a better than expected March PMI services result which outweighed the negative effect of further deterioration in the housing market as reported by the HBOS price index. GBP/USD spiked from its lows at 1.4650 to close near its highs just shy of 1.4850 while the cross rate also finished higher at 2.0700.

- We expect a range today in the GBP/AUD rate of 2.0620 to 2.0820

:: New Zealand Dollar: The Kiwi bounced around in a wide range on Friday holding onto support at 58 cents with resistance at 59 cents capping any further advances. A swift move lower in U.S equities following another abysmal employment report triggered a momentary dip to 0.5770 before a late rally saw the NZD finish the week back near the top end of the range at 0.5880. This morning sees the NZD/USD pressing against the psychological 59 cent barrier with a break higher likely at some point.

- We expect a range today in the NZD/USD rate of 0.5850 to 0.5950

:: Majors: The Euro searched for direction in early offshore trade bouncing between 1.3740 and 1.3400 heading into U.S trade. Adding some support to the EUR/USD was a slightly stronger than forecast preliminary March Euro-zone Purchasing Managers index for the services industry. The main attraction however was the U.S employment report which showed continued deterioration as the economy shed another 663k jobs in the non-farm sector and 161k in the manufacturing during the month of March, both only marginally worse that economists predictions. Despite an initial dip to 1.3365 shortly after the announcement the Greenback weakened heading into the weekend on its lows at 1.3485 against the Euro whilst in exchange with the Japanese Yen it held onto support marginally above the 100 handle.

	Symbol	Bid	Ask
	EURUSD	1.31049	1.31056
	USDJPY	76.792	76.800
	GBPUSD	1.57963	1.57977
	USDCHF	0.92225	0.92236
	EURCHF	1.2086	1.2090
	GBPCHF	1.4567	1.4573
	AUDUSD	1.0769	1.0774
	USDCAD	0.9990	0.9991
	GOLD	1712.40	1713.40
2012.02.07 12:38:00 (GMT)