DAILY CURRENCY OUTLOOK

* Aussie inches higher

* US Thanksgiving Day Holiday yesterday makes for quiet 24 hours

* Focus turns to Australian inflation nos. due out next week

The past 24 hours have seen the AUD/USD trade in a narrow range of 0.6732 – 0.6777, and this morning the Aussie opened a touch higher from yesterday’s Sydney close of 0.6755. This lack of movement was largely due to an absence of local and offshore economic data and markets in the US being closed for Thanksgiving Day – a national holiday in the US and Canada that celebrates and gives thanks for the autumn harvest, a tradition that dates back to 1621. However, if we wind back 12 hours earlier to early Thursday morning, there was plenty of movement, and it was all up for the AUD. The rally began shortly after the release of some mixed US data – better-than-expected Durable Goods Orders (orders for the manufacture of, e.g. motor vehicles and appliances) offset by the highest weekly Jobless Claim (240K versus 224K expected) since June. Then things really got going as the Aussie moved from 0.6667 to 0.6735 in just over an hour following the release of the Federal Reserve Minutes from their meeting of Nov 1-2. In short, the Minutes reported that the Fed is “ready to begin hiking rates on smaller sizes”, which caused heavy selling of the greenback. Today is expected to be quiet as we gear up for next week.