The dollar extended gains in very early Asia but the rally was thwarted first by the fact that USD gains could not break out of recent range lows for EUR and AUD and then by the decision by the RBA to keep rates steady at 3.25%. The decision caught much of the market by surprise, triggering AUD buying with NZD, EUR, GBP, CHF and CAD all piggy-backing off the AUD rally. Despite the RBA move, the BoC, ECB and BOE are all seen cutting rates this week however which should still help to underpin overall USD strength. AUD-USD rallied from lows of 0.6287 to highs of 0.6417 with risk to move back to the top of the recent range around 0.6550-0.6600. EUR-USD rallied from lows of 1.2538 to highs of 1.2676 with option defense ahead of 1.2500 is still acting as firm support for EUR-USD, as is strong demand for EUR-JPY around 122.00. USD-JPY bounced off lows of 97.00 to rise to 97.61 but is still seen in a broad 96.80-98.20 range that has contained dealings since Friday. Asian stock markets were able to pare losses, aided by a good bounce in DJIA stock futures. NYMEX crude consolidated above $40 after a 10% loss on Monday while Comex gold futures dropped $7.20 to $931.80, still under pressure after the failure to hold gains above $1000 in February.