The Australian dollar has opened weaker this morning currently trading around USD 0.9740, after reversing gains which saw it trade to a high of USD0.9950 during the European session.

Australia: Base metals ended weaker also weighing on the AUD, with copper down 4.5%, zinc down 1.6% and nickel down 2.4%. Gold fell 2.1% to be trading at US$1,616.00 an ounce while oil lost 4.5% to be trading at US$80.66 a barrel. Yesterday locally saw the Australian HIA new home sales for August report a rise of 1.1% in sales, which was a welcomed
relief, especially after the 8.0% fall in July.

While the lack of influential data for our local economy continues, today does see the release of the Australian job vacancies for the August quarter. This is unlikely to have an effect on the AUD as it continues to remain under pressure and directed by offshore Asian flows.

Majors: Equity markets also reversed earlier gains as Greece and euroarea debt concerns weighed on sentiment. Both Paris and Frankfurt ended down 0.9%, while FTSE closed down 1.4%. News that both Italian and Spain financial market regulators have extended the temporary bans on short selling of financial shares weighed on the market. Also overnight Finland's parliament approved the expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility as agreed by the Euro zone leaders, with 10 out of the 17
members already agreed and Germany to vote on the bill tonight.

On the data front the German CPI for September rose 0.1% to be up 2.6%yoy, showing that real activity continues to hold up well. Meanwhile in the US equity markets continued the weak trend with the DOW down 1.6%, the Nasdaq down 2.2% and the S&P500 ending down 2.1%. The US durable goods orders fell 0.1% in August after the 4.1% gain in July, while shipments ex-defence industry rose 2.8% for August. The US mortgage applications rose 9.3% last week, the third consecutive weekly rise.

Tonight in the US will see a raft of data with the GDP for the 2Q, initial jobless claims, pending home sales and the Kansas City Fed
manufacturing activity. Also tonight will see Federal Reserve Member Plosser speaking on the Economy.

Economic Calendar
29 SEPT AU Job Vacancies AUG
EU Euro-zone Consumer Confidence SEP
UK Mortgage Approvals AUG
US Pending Home Sales AUG