The dollar came under fresh selling pressure in Asia, with traders attributing the latest wave of dollar sales to the Australian data and the gains in the AUD. Though Australian retail sales were worse than expected, -1.4%, Australian home prices rose 4.2% in Q2, much more than expected and underpinned the concerns noted by RBA Stevens over a possible housing bubble. Fears that the RBA would address this issue in today’s decision bodes for a tighter policy stance, which in turn bolstered the AUD. AUD-USD rallied to fresh highs of 0.8470 and the highest levels since October. This helped boost NZD-USD to highs of 0.6713, also the highest since October. USD-CAD fell to 1.0634 and the lowest since October while GBP-USD broke above a barrier option at 1.7000 to trade to 1.7004, also the highest since October. Base metal prices for aluminum, zinc, metal and copper are at the highest levels since autumn 2008 and this too is bolstering dollar bloc currencies such as CAD and AUD. The performance of the EUR-USD was more disappointing despite some buying by hedge funds with gains limited to 1.4433, and below the NY highs around 1.4445. Option defense of 1.4475 strikes is expected to help stall gains. The USD pared losses later in the afternoon on profit-taking.