Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is under pressure this morning and has traded below USD 1.0300 after a volatile overnight session in the northern hemisphere.

Australia Equities on both sides of the Atlantic fell, copper and oil prices weakened and European and US sovereign bonds rallied.

European equities fell on unsubstantiated headlines of a German sovereign downgrade and traded lower thereafter while US equities gapped lower and did not recover.

The US dollar had a strong rebound, up by more than 1.0% on a DXY Index basis. The AUD provided no joy for the 'safe haven' set, down from a high yesterday just shy of USD 1.0400 to be trading below USD 1.0300 in early Thursday trade.

Any affiliation with the title safe-haven seems to have dissipated for the AUD, despite the rhetoric constantly heard from Canberra.

The key data point overnight, the Fed Beige Book, added nothing positive, with 10 of the 12 Fed districts saying
growth was moderate or modest while two said growth had accelerated slightly.

For the Australian dollar today, there is the release of the NAB Business Survey for the March quarter and China's Property Prices are due at 11.30am AEST and will be worth watching.

Then nothing big out of Europe or America so the focus most likely will be on the US reporting season.

Majors: In the majors, the surge in the US Dollar was strongest against the Scandinavian currencies with SEK losing 1.1% against the USD. The EUR was down 0.8% against the USD. The BoC failed to drop its tightening bias albeit it says that renewed slack has opened up in the economy.

As stated above, Europe reacted to a variety of woes, but concerns about the resilience of global growth is the key, in the wake of Tuesday's IMF downgrade, with particular concern about risks in Europe, disappointing China growth numbers on Monday and then poor German car sales overnight.

London had to cope with a rise in the unemployment rate to 7.9% and a drop in mining shares as commodities were hit. Fed Official Bullard (VM) said inflation may be falling below the 2% target, which would mean the Fed should 'defend inflation from the low side' (more QE).

Economic Calendar
18 APR AU NAB Quarterly Business Confidence
US Initial Jobless Claims
NZ ANZ Consumer Confidence Index
CH Property Prices