Upcoming data releases this week include tonight's existing home sales and will continue with the Conference Board's consumer confidence, durable goods, final second-quarter GDP, personal income and spending, all of which could point to a sluggish growth trend. "We expect the numbers to support market views that the (US) economy is slowing, with contained price pressures," UBS AG said in a client note. "We expect the US dollar to continue to struggle as steady erosion of carry advantage and a less favourable environment for carry trades leaves the currency vulnerable to long-running structural issues," it said. "Housing lies at the center of 'slowdown' concerns in the US and falling home sales for the past year threaten to take prices with them before long," noted DBS Bank analysts. There has also been heightened speculation of further action by China to allow greater flexibility in its exchange rate mechanism, namely through a widening of the intraday trading band within which the yuan is allowed to move against the US dollar, they said. "Between now and the end of 2006, the market should see the existing band against the US dollar widened from the existing plus-or-minus 0.3 pct to plus-or-minus 0.6 pct," the DBS analysts predicted. "This, in our view, should be expected at any time."