Australian Dollar
The Aussie took a tumble on Wednesday as Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European Central Bank failed for a second week in a row to reach an agreement on how to get Greece's debt down to a manageable level. The Aussie was friendless for most of the local session losing half a US cent late in the day trading at 1.0340 against the US dollar when news emerged that further Greek bailout talks will be required again in six days time. During offshore action the unit steadily moved higher towards this morning’s opening level of 1.0360 as US economic data came in better than expected. Meanwhile, the Aussie is trading at 8-month highs against the Japanese Yen (85.40).

We expect a range today of 1.0320 – 1.0390

New Zealand Dollar
The kiwi got caught up in a bout of risk aversion late on Wednesday falling to an intraday low of 0.8125 against the greenback as Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European Central Bank failed for a second week in a row to reach an agreement on how to get Greeces debt down to a manageable level. The currency followed both the Euro and the Australian Dollar lower as markets eschewed risk and opted for the US Dollar. During offshore trade the kiwi moved between a low of 0.8110 and this morning’s opening level of 0.8130. Ranges are not expected to be wide today given the lack of local economic data releases and Thanksgiving Day in the United States tonight our time. Meanwhile, the kiwi opens little-changed against the Aussie at 0.7840.

We expect a range today of 0.8100 – 0.8150

Great Britain Pound
Pound Sterling (1.5940) opens little-changed against the greenback after minutes of the recent Bank of England meeting revealed only one of the 9 members wanted a further round of bond purchases. The committee voted unanimously to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.5 per cent which has remained unchanged since March 2009. After these announcements, the pound rallied from an intraday low of 1.5881 and has managed to hang onto most of its gains. Meanwhile, the pound opens higher against both the Australian Dollar (1.5380) and the New Zealand Dollar (1.9600).

We expect a range today of 1.5350 – 1.5410

Majors
The Euro rallied across the board on Wednesday despite Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European Central Bank failing for a second week in a row to reach an agreement on how to get Greeces debt down to a manageable level. The 17-nation currency initially dropped on this news to a low of 1.2735 but rallied steadily since on speculation that EU leaders remain positive that a deal can be made when they meet for a third time next week. The Euro hit a two-week high of 1.2832. Across the Atlantic, economic data was better than expected with initial jobless claims for the week ending November 17 decreasing by 41,000. The big dollar keeps rallying against the Japanese Yen and hit fresh 7-month highs overnight at 82.52.

Data releases

AUD: No data today

NZD: No data today

JPY: BoJ Monthly report on Financial Development

GBP: No data today

EUR: Euro zone PMI (Nov)

USD: Thanksgiving Day, Markets closed