Asian session: The dollar and yen remained stronger

The dollar and yen remained stronger against most major peers as investors sought refuge assets amid concern re-elected President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress will struggle to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. The greenback remained weaker against the Japanese currency after Obama’s victory over Republican challenger Mitt Romney boosted expectations the Federal Reserve will maintain monetary stimulus.

The euro traded near a two month-low ahead of a European Central Bank meeting today after ECB President Mario Draghi said Europe’s debt crisis is affecting Germany. Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt yesterday that while Germany has been largely insulated from difficulties elsewhere in the euro area “the latest data suggest that these developments are now starting to affect the German economy.” A report today is forecast to show exports in Europe’s largest economy declined in September. German exports, adjusted for work days and seasonal changes, probably declined 1.5 percent in September from the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden releases figures today.

The so-called Aussie dollar rose against most of its major peers after data showed Australian employers added more jobs in October than economists estimated. The number of people employed in Australia increased by 10,700 last month after rising a revised 15,500 in September, the statistics bureau said today. That compares with economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey of a gain of 500.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair sat down to yesterday's lows.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $1.5970-95.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair sat down to yesterday's lows.

With the US election votes in and largely counted, attention refocuses on the fundamentals - although Wednesday sees a fairly light day, giving many the chance to get over a late night of election watching. The US starts clearing the bunting away early and readies for the 1100GMT release of the Nov 2 week MBA Mortgage Applications numbers are released. Late data, at 2000GMT, the September Consumer Credit numbers and the October Treasury Allotments By Class numbers will cross the wires.