Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar is slightly lower this morning, currently trading around USD1.0340 as some mixed data out of the US made it difficult for the AUD to hold its ground.

Australia: The first release out of the US was a positive one, with the GDP result for the second quarter was revised higher from 1.5% to 1.7%; a good sign for the ailing economy.

Another welcomed release was the pending home sales for the month of July which saw a solid rise of 2.4%, well above the expectation of a 1% gain.

The release of the Beige Book didn't paint such a bright picture however, which showed that economic growth had slowed slightly in July. This caused some risk averse trading, and the AUD pull back as a result.

Commodity prices were also weaker, with close attention to be paid to iron ore prices (Australia's largest export commodity). Overnight the price of iron ore was down 4.7% to USD90.3 per tonne; now down a total of 22.3% for the month of August.

On Thursday, we see the release of the CAPEX figures for the June quarter, and building approvals for July, but we expect the AUD to trade in a fairly tight trading range ahead of Friday's Jackson Hole Summit.

Majors: All eyes are on the speech to be given by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday in Jackson Hole, as they are hoping for clues as to whether there will be further central bank easing, and to the possible timeline of such assistance.

Given the mixed data released overnight, many investors are torn as to what to expect on Friday. As a result, US equity markets were relatively unchanged, with the DOW unchanged at 13,107 and the S&P500 and Nasdaq both posting small gains of 0.1%.

The Beige Book reported that activity continues to expand 'gradually' with little changed experienced from the last release. There were positives with the retail and housing activity showing improvement, but manufacturing and employment continues to be an area of concern.

In the US, the release of US personal income and weekly jobless claims, but we expect a very quiet trading session ahead of all the news out Friday night.
Economic Calendar
30 AUG AU Building Approvals
AU Private Capital Expendure
US Personal Income /Spending
US Initial Jobless Claims

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