AUSSIE-YEN: Westpac write that "AUD has held its.....>

AUSSIE-YEN: Westpac write that "AUD has held its ground quite well against JPY

in recent weeks given the aggressive move in interest rate markets to price in

substantial risk of RBA rate cuts since the early Feb change of RBA policy bias

and clear signs of slower growth in the Australian economy. RBA rate cut talk

should remain the key topic for AUD in coming weeks, though the focus is very

much on Jul-Aug as the likely window for the first move and a cut is already

fully priced by Sep-Oct. With AUD's commodity price support also driving large

trade surpluses, JPY weakness may be the driver of the next sustained move on

AUD/JPY. Spec positioning on USD/JPY is helpfully balanced and market talk about

looser monetary policy could pick up ahead of the BoJ's quarterly forecast

release at the 24-25 Apr meeting. AUD/JPY Y80 looks like strong resistance short

term but it should be broken, with scope for Y81+ in April."