USD was steady against Yen

*Australian Dollar*: The Australian Dollar fell on the release of
yesterdays Trade Balance with the number coming in well below forecast
at A$1,93 billion compared with a previous reading of A$2.56 billion.
The Aussie traded at 0.9930 before the announcement and fell almost 20
points on the release as the trade surplus narrowed almost A$70
billion with exports flat for the period and imports up almost 3%. As
the local session continued so did the AUD sell off with the AUD
hitting a low of 0.9818 in the Asian session before settling into an
offshore range of 0.9823 to 0.9884. Concerns about the continued
flooding in Queensland and its effects to local growth in 2011 will
continue to weigh on the AUD over the next several days.

* We expect a range today of 0.9800 to 0.9900
*New Zealand Dollar*: * *An improved reading in both the NZIER
Business Confidence Index (actual 8; previous 6) and Building Consents
(actual 8.8%; previous -1.8%) had minimal impact on the Kiwi during
Asian trade when released with the NZ Dollar limited to a 20 pip range
against the Greenback. The market now expects the Reserve Bank of New
Zealand will start to lift interest rates around April 2011. During
the offshore session the dollar moved between 0.7560 and 0.7617. There
is no significant data schedule for release out of New Zealand this
week so the currency will be at the mercy of offshore events and
happenings.

* We expect a range today of 0.7550 to 0.7650
*Great British Pound*: The Pound rallied in Asian trade against the
Greenback moving slowly and steadily towards the 1.56 handle as
traders opted to purchase the Pound ahead of its US counterpart. Out
yesterday was the BRC Retails Sales Monitor index (measures change in
same store sales at retail level) which indicated that the British
consumer is being fairly cautious when it comes to retail spend. The
result came in at -0.3% compared with a previous reading of 0.7% with
many market analyst believing that the run of recent bad weather in
the UK is to blame. Against its Southern Hemisphere counterparts the
Pound is changing hands at 1.5790 against the Aussie and 2.0500
against the Kiwi.

* We expect a range today of 1.5550 to 1.5750
*Majors*: European Sovereign Debt issues out of Portugal and Span
continue to be the dominate topic for traders at the moment, with the
majority of top tier data being ignored in favour of the happenings
within the 16 nation currency. Helping the EURO to hold above the 1.29
mark against the Greenback was news that Japan would buy Euro area
bonds in an attempt to help improve the regions debt crisis. The EURO
reached an intraday high of 1.2992 against the US Dollar [1] but
concern over the uptake of Portuguese, Spanish and Italian bond sales
scheduled for tomorrow and Friday has the market still on edge. The US
Dollar is steady against the Yen (83.20) and down against the Pound
(1.5593).

*Data releases*
* *AUD*: Trade Balance; ANZ Job Advertisements
* *NZD*: No data slated for release
* *JPY*: Bank Lending y/y; Current Account
* *GBP*: Nationwide Consumer Confidence/BRC Shop Price Index
* *EUR*: French Govt Budget Balance; Italian Industrial Production
m/m
* *USD*: Beige Book, Federal Budget Balance; Import Prices m/m
Source: Fxstreet.com