Australian Dollar: The release yesterday of the Westpac Consumer Confidence Survey showed that consumer confidence bounced modestly for the month of April with the survey of 1200 people demonstrating sentiment rising to 1.2% from a previous negative reading of 2.4%. Despite such news the Aussie remained relatively subdued locally before entering the offshore session.

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Overnight the AUD/USD spot rate reached a high of 1.0537 as reports from the US Federal Reserve surrounding planned spending cuts spurred a flight to riskier assets. With signs the US economy is starting to show signs of moderate growth we open this morning at a rate of 1.0499 with the market poised to again establish support above the 1.05 level

We expect a range today of 1.0420 to 1.0520

New Zealand Dollar: After originally opening at a rate of 0.7826 against the US the Kiwi gained throughout the course of the as investors snapped up high yielders to eventually push the pair to an intraday high of 0.7902.

With a handful of strong second tier data coupled with advancing global equities and stronger commodity prices, the Kiwi eventually ran out of steam at 0.7929 and opens this morning at a rate of 0.7884 this morning. In the absence of any local data today the market will again look to the US for continued signs of optimism as the Federal Reserve grapples with their ongoing fiscal constraints.

We expect a range today of 0.7820 to 0.7920

Great British Pound: The Pound remained range bound during the Asian session yesterday (1.6225 - 1.6277) as the effects from Wednesday's lower than expected readings in both CPI and the BRC Retail Sales monitor diminished the need for any potential interest rate hikes by the Bank of England in the short term. Overnight the release of the Claimant Count (Actual 0.7k; Forecast -3,6k) and the Unemployment Rate (Actual 7.8%; Forecast 8%) kept the Pound in a 1 cent range against its Trans Atlantic counterpart with the pair moving between 1.6235 and 1.6310.

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Support for GBPUSD can be found at 1.6220 and resistance on the topside at 1.6400. Against the Aussie and Kiwi, Pound is currently trading at 1.5458 and 2.0615 respectively.

We expect a range today of 1.5380 to 1.5650

Majors: The EURO continues to hold up relatively well against the Greenback despite fringe sovereign debt issues (Portugal) continuing to garner the majority of the headlines. The 17 nation currency recently hit its highest level since January 2010 with it hitting 1.4518 on Wednesday. Overnight the pair moved between 1.4410 and 1.4510 as mixed news out of Europe and the US directed traffic.

A positive result in Euro Zone Industrial Production saw the EURO rally briefly against the Greenback before the release Stateside of Retail Sales and the Fed's Beige Book pushed the pair back down towards the 1.44 level. In spite of a weaker than expected reading in US Retail Sales (Actual 0.4%; Previous 1.1%), it was a the Beige Book that pointed out that the economy expanded at a "moderate pace in most districts" in February and March showing that the US economy is on the road to recovery. The Greenback is up slightly against the Japanese Yen and is currently changing hands at 83.85.

Data releases

AUD: MI Inflation Expectations; New Motor Vehicle Sales m/m

NZD: Business NZ Manufacturing Index

JPY: No data scheduled for release

GBP: Nationwide Consumer Confidence

EUR: ECB Monthly Bulletin

USD: Unemployment Claims; Core PPI m/m; Fed Speak (Duke, Kocherlakota, Plosser, Tarullo)

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