DAILY CURRENCY OUTLOOK

* Aussie opens slightly lower ahead of BIG week

* Focus on RBA and US Fed and key economic data

* Deauville Legend heavy favourite for Melbourne Cup

There was little movement in the AUD/USD over the weekend as the market remains cautious ahead of a big week both in terms of interest rate decisions and economic data – see below. At Fridays Sydney close, the Aussie was trading at 0.6445 and opened this morning around 64 cents. In the month of October, the AUD/USD traded in a relatively tight range of 0.6190 – 0.6543 however, the trend has clearly been down when you consider just over 2 months ago, the Aussie was trading at 0.7132. Global inflation and the need to contain this has seen most major Central Banks hike interest rates over the past 6 months. The US Federal Reserve has been the more aggressive, which in turn has strengthened the greenback against most major currency pairs, including the Aussie.

This week further rate rises by the RBA, US Fed, and Bank of England are a given. The rates of increase are important, but just as important are the accompanying Policy Statements. Both will undoubtedly provide some short and mid-term direction on global markets.