The pair is likely to trade with a firm undertone today in Asia as risk sentiment improved on optimism about U.S. budget talks and receding concerns about the debt crisis in Europe. Referring to ongoing negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama said “we could probably solve this in about a week. It’s not that tough.” Risk sentiment also improved after s China’s regulators removed a rule limiting insurers’ investments in commercial banks and data showed that the ISM non-manufacturing index expanded at a faster pace than forecast in November. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose for the first time in three days, up 0.26% on Wednesday. Looking ahead, non-farm payrolls, due Dec. 7, are expected to have risen by 95,000 in November, slowing from +171,000 in the previous month, according to MNI survey. A Nikkei poll showed that the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party may secure more than half of the lower house’s 480 seats at the Dec. 16 election and that the Democratic Party of Japan may emerge with less than half of the 230 seats it held before the official start of campaigning Tuesday. The rate moved from Y81.80 to Y82.48 on Wednesday.
EasyForexNews Research Team