Bell FX Currency Outlook: It was a quiet night of trading on Friday as financial markets await the result of ongoing discussions in Cyprus.

Australia: With the troika (European Commission, ECB and the IMF) meeting in Brussels with Cyprus government officials still ongoing this morning financial markets have opened to similar levels as we saw on Friday.

US equity markets were slightly stronger after some good corporate results from Nike, Inc. and Tiffany & Co. while the major
European indices were only slightly lower than Thursday.

Financial markets anticipate there will be some resolution in regards to the Cypriot financial crisis with most analysts predicting there will be a tax on larger sized bank deposits and smaller depositors will be spared.

With banks closed in the country until Tuesday, it is widely expected a deal will be done since the ECB has said they will no longer fund the banking system if a deal is not reached when business resumes on Tuesday.

Movement in the AUD and especially the EUR will largely follow the results of these discussions in Brussels. Russia declined to provide any additional funding at the end of last week after Finance Minister Michael Sarris visited the country.

We have very little local data being released this week with private credit information to come on Thursday after the RBA releases their Financial Stability Review on Wednesday.

Tomorrow RBA Governor Stevens speaks at an ASIC Forum in Sydney.

Majors With all eyes on Cyprus, the German IFO survey for March was released on Friday which registered only a slightly lower result than expected indicating that the German economy's momentum will continue.

These figures remain above their long term average and continue to show that Germany is expanding. This is in contrast to France whose flash PMI data released on Thursday shows that the French economy continues to remain in a recessionary mode.

The ratings agency Fitch has placed the United Kingdom's AAA sovereign debt rating on negative watch. Later today a number of high profile central bankers will be speaking (ECB's Mersch in Madrid while the Fed's Bernanke and Bank of England's King will be talking in London along with the IMF's Blanchard).

Cyprus will continue to dominate the newswires until there is some resolution in that country.

Economic Calendar
25 MAR EU ECB's Mersch Speaks in Madrid
US Fed's Bernanke, BOE's King speak in London

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