FOREX

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 0.25% yesterday, as markets widely predicted they would.

The Australian Dollar has traded under the pressure of today’s RBA meeting so far this week, despite a brief sigh of relief from the global stage.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Market sentiment turned negative on Friday as poorer jobs data in the US and weaker Chinese PMI figures moved equity markets lower as the possibility of further stimuli from central banks helped prevent the AUD from falling further.

A difficult week for the Australian Dollar did not get any easier on Friday as a slowdown in manufacturing across the globe hit hard on market sentiment.

Whilst private sector credit as well as private capital expenditure figures came in well above expectation, building approvals fell for the month of April by a seasonally adjusted figure of 8.7 percent.

The Australian dollar tumbled yesterday after weaker than expected retail sales increased bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates further next week.

The Australian Dollar has managed to maintain the gains witnessed in the early parts of this week as US Markets returned to action overnight.

The Australian dollar spiked upon opening yesterday morning after Greek Poll results showed The Nation’s pro-austerity parties gained ground.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened this morning in the low 0.9800's as markets still focus on the European debt crisis with Spain starting to push Greece off the front page.

In another week of carnage across markets the Australian dollar consolidated on Friday, trading between a tight range of 0.9725 – 0.9798 against its US Counterpart.

Whilst troubles in Europe continued to escalate overnight the Australian dollar has decided enough is enough for now and has remained in range-bound consolidation mode. I

More evidence of the German locomotive dragged down by the rest of the European continent as German manufacturing PMI dips to 45.0, its lowest figure since May 2009. The French version of manufacturing PMI hit 44, also a 36-month low. EURUSD hits a fresh low on the year at $1.25, down 3.3% year-to-date, and down 7.0% from its February highs. Our warning that the PMIs were a more effective leading indicator than the IFO or ZEW was first made in March, stating the reasons in more detail.

Fears of an impending Greek exit from the euro sent markets into a tail spin yesterday, the euro breaking critical support levels and taking the Australian Dollar down with it.

A conservative day’s trade was witnessed in Asian hours yesterday as markets weighed up prospects for global growth with the ever-present fear of European contagion.

Comments made by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao lifted the Australian Dollar during local hours yesterday, the Premier confirming China pledges to focus more on boosting economic growth.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar continues in languish in the 0.9800's after the G8 meeting held on the weekend produced no "revelations" of how to deal with the economic woes of Europe.

The Australian Dollar remained unimpressive on Friday as risk adverse markets made things difficult for the local unit.

The Australian dollar falls below parity, as investors seek the safe haven US Dollar.

It was a familiar story for the Australian dollar overnight with risk being shed across the board.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is close to parity with the USD after the weekend's announcement of China's second cut this year in the reserve ratio requirement for banks has provided no relief from the ongoing concerns of Europe.

It was a consistent sell off for the Australian dollar for much of Friday’s session with crack’s starting to appear for the higher yielding asset.

The Australian Dollar started its local session at lows yesterday, trading down at 1.0040 early on.

The Australian Dollar has dipped closer to parity overnight as coalition talks reach a standstill in Greece.

The Australian dollar lost one third of a US Cent during the intraday session yesterday after Australia’s trade balance posted its third consecutive monthly deficit of $1.6bn.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD is almost a cent higher from this time yesterday, currently trading around USD1.0210, as markets digest the results from the elections in Europe over the weekend.

A surprise 0.9% increase in retail sales as well as a better than expected 7.4% increase in building approvals gave the Australian dollar the support it needed on Monday morning in Asia, as the aftermath of French and Greek elections weighed on risky assets.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: A disappointing non-farm payroll number from the US for April saw major equity markets move lower on Friday and take the Australia dollar with it to the mid 1.0100 level this morning.

The minutes for the May meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia indicated after the surprise 0.5% cut issued on Tuesday, the central bank are now entering a ‘wait and see’ period to assess what impact the cut has on the domestic economy

The Australian dollar traded above the 1.03 level against its US Counterpart for much of yesterday’s local session, as investors stopped to take a breath in what has been a hectic week of movements.