Today in Asia the spotlight was surely on the Euro, as the single European currency continued its gains against the Yen and US Dollar as risk appetite improved amidst what looks like a stabilization in global equities. With this perceived stability comes the selling of safe haven dollars and Yen and in turn we saw the buying of the Euro, Pound and higher yielding Aussie Dollar.
EUR/USD came out of the gate today in Asia and hit its low of 1.2953 early on before embarking on a move to current highs (as of this writing) of 1.3030, which represent a level not witnessed in about a month. With this break through 1.3000 it is possible further gains could be in the cards for this pair. Against the Yen, the Euro made the same type of gains, moving north from 127.12 to just over 128.20, looking to trump the earlier NY high of 128.70 in this pair. Risk aversion was moved to the back burner as Asian equities continued to make sound gains, with the Kospi and Nikkei both up almost 3.5% close to the markets close.

USD/JPY did get a boost from the Yen selling in the crosses, as the pair ended a mere 45 pips off the session low at 98.50. The Yen has lost some of strength of late as the situation in Japan seems to be getting worse. Down under, the Aussie Dollar made gains as well, a 0.6576 low was replaced by highs near the 0.6615 level as the RBA minutes showed that the central bank was close to cutting rates this month but decided to pause in order to assess the effectiveness of the cutting cycle. The Bank of Japan will make a rate decision tomorrow, and the consensus is that the bank will leave rates unchanged at 0.10%.

Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session):

3/17/20098:15SZ Industrial Production (QoQ)4Q -5.20%-0.10%
3/17/20098:15SZ Industrial Production (YoY) 4Q 0.70%-4.50%
3/17/20099:30UKDCLG UK House Prices (YoY) JAN -10.20%-11.70%
3/17/200910:00GE ZEW Survey (Econ. Sentiment) MAR -5.8-8
3/17/200910:00GE Zew Survey (Current Situation) MAR -86.2-90
3/17/200910:00ECZEW Survey (Econ. Sentiment)MAR -8.7-12