EUR/USD opened at $1.3051 in Asia after a moderately quiet session in NY, with a slightly firmer tone on the back of a passing of the payroll tax bill by the House republican leaders, and a WSJ article that the Fed may consider keeping rates near zero for longer than originally pledged. An early slip to $1.3047 was seen, before a gradual move higher to $1.3080 later easing back to $1.3070. GBP/USD edged up to 1.5704 from $1.5670 and EUR/GBP edged up from stg0.8319 to stg0.8334. USD/JPY headed up on the open to Y78.23 from Y78.17 but fell back on exporter sales, despite the Japanese holiday, to Y78.06. EUR/JPY was pegged into a tiny Y102.00-17 range. AUD/USD headed higher from opening lows of $1.0127 on the back of corporate demand despite some selling from importers and asset managers. The pair taking out stops through $1.0150 to a high of $1.0181. NZD/USD traded down from $0.7753 to $0.7723 on reports of another earthquake in Christchurch, but the market then rallied back to $0.7757 amid talk of minimal damage.
EasyForexNews Research Team