Asian session: The euro traded 0.3 percent from a two-month low

The euro traded 0.3 percent from a two-month low before European finance chiefs meet today to seek a program to maintain Greek solvency. Euro-area finance ministers will meet at 5 p.m. in Brussels. While ministers probably won’t approve 31.5 billion euros ($40 billion) in fresh loans to Greece, the maturing of 5 billion euros of Greek bills on Nov. 16 won’t lead to an “accidental default,” a European official said last week.

The 17-nation euro remained lower versus the yen, following its biggest weekly loss in four months, even after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras secured support from a majority of lawmakers for the 2013 budget needed to unlock international bailout funds. Samaras secured the vote on Greece’s 2013 budget with 167 lawmakers, setting up the next tranche of an international bailout. The nation’s fiscal plan, which forecasts a deficit of 5.2 percent of gross domestic product and a sixth year of contraction, is designed to regain the confidence of its euro- area and International Monetary Fund creditors.

The yen weakened against most of its major peers after data today showed Japan’s economy contracted in the third quarter at the fastest pace since last year’s record earthquake as exports slumped and consumer spending slid. In Japan, GDP fell an annualized 3.5 percent in the three months through September, after a revised 0.3 percent gain the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today. The median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 3.4 percent drop.

Australia’s dollar rose after a bigger-than-estimated trade surplus in China brightened prospects for commodity exports, and data today showed Australian home-loan approvals rose for a second month. China’s customs administration said Nov. 10 the nation’s exports exceeded imports by $32 billion in October, compared to a $27.3 billion trade surplus estimated by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. China is Australia’s biggest trading partner. In Australia, the number of loans granted to build or buy houses and apartments rose 0.9 percent in September from the previous month, when it grew by a revised 2.1 percent, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.2730.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair was trading around $ 1.5900.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of Y79.40-55.