AUD lost ground against G10 FX as pressure....>

FOREX: AUD lost ground against G10 FX as pressure piled up on the currency.

Local PMI survey from CBA revealed that expansion decelerated in both m'fing &

services sectors, with pessimistic signals noted re: Aussie labour market,

closely watched by the RBA. Soon thereafter, APRA required Macquarie, Rabobank &

HSBC to tighten the intra-group funding arrangements, after they improperly

reported funding stability within the group. Attention was then captured by an

update to Westpac's RBA call. The bank now exp. two 25bps cuts from the RBA in

Oct & Feb vs. their prev. call for one 25bps cut in Nov. Meanwhile, downbeat

skilled vacancies data further fuelled concerns re: Australian labour mkt.

- AUD weakness spilled over into NZD to a degree. The kiwi ignored wider than

exp. NZ trade surplus underpinned by disappointing imports & exports numbers,

but softened upon the breach of the $0.7000 barrier by AUD/USD.

- USD remained buoyant, the DXY index extended its recent winning streak. JPY

was also solid, despite a positive showing from the Nikkei 225.

- Today's economic docket features a batch of global flash PMI readings, as well

as new home sales and some noteworthy corporate earnings reports in the U.S.