Australia: The AUD traded quietly overnight, within its recent range as investors remained sidelined ahead of US payrolls data tonight.

The higher yielding currency initially fell following disappointing jobless claims numbers released early on in the US session.

However a turn around in equities later on in the night saw the AUD regain some lost ground back towards USD0.9150.

AUD/EUR remained relatively steady around USD0.6945, while the AUD/NZD continues to track higher, opening this morning at 1.2556.

On the day we have the Reserve Bank of Australia releasing its quarterly statement of monetary policy at 11.30 (AEST).

The market will be looking to see if there is any hint of a tightening bias in the report after weaker than expected Q2 CPI figures last week saw the RBA leave rates on hold Tuesday.

The AUD is expected to remain fairly range bound on the day as the market prepares for US Non-farm payrolls report which is due to be released later tonight.

Majors: The USD and the EUR fell against the JPY Thursday as fresh doubts were cast over the pace of the economic recovery in the US.

The EUR did emerge slightly higher than the USD as investors remained cautious following disappointing US initial jobless claims.

A US Labor Department report showed initial jobless claim benefits climbed 4.1% to 479k in the week to July 31, baffling most investors who had expected claims to fall to 455k.

Investors became a little concerned following the release and as such we saw a bit of position squaring following the data.

The US data overshadowed meetings of the ECB and the BoE, both of which left their key rates unchanged Thursday night.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said euro-zone growth had been better than expected in the second quarter but it could be less buoyant in the second half of the year.

As mentioned above US Non-farm payrolls are due to be released tonight, the market is likely to trade side ways until its release.

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