The Australian Dollar has remained contained within recent ranges overnight as the market awaits for events later in the week before making any significant moves.

Australia: The AUD is currently trading around USD0.8950, slightly higher from its Monday close of around USD0.8935. Most major currenices took a break yesterday, with little activity in the foreign exchange market as investors wait for upcoming events later in the week. Our first opportunity will come early Wednesday morning (Australian time) when the new head of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, appears before a congressional committee for the first time. Its highly anticipated that Dr Yellen will be asked about the timing of the scailing back of the Fed's massive economic stimulus program. Most expect her to be more on the dovish side but to still continue the theme of steady tapering. We are likely to see a bit of movement on the back of Yellen's first Testimony to the House. On the day domestically we have home loan data being released for the month of December with the market expecting a small increase. While the NAB business confidence and conditions is being released for January.

Majors: As mentioned above is was a quiet night for markets offshore with very little in the way of new information. US equity were slightly lower, while European markets were mixed. Gold was stronger, rising to USD1,275.5 per ounce while oil prices were mixed. Currencies failed to make any headway with the USD slightly lower, the JPY a little stronger, while the NZD underperformed.

Economic Calendar

  1. 11 FEB AU NAB Housing Confidence / Conditions
  2. US Fed's Yellen delivers Monetary Policy Report to House
  3. AU House Price Index QoQ/YoY
  4. NZ REINZ Housing Report

*For latest pricing, ranges visit www.bellpotter.com.au