Asian session: Australia’s dollar reached a four-week high

00:00 Japan Bank holiday

00:01 United Kingdom BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y January +0.4% +0.8% +3.9%

00:30 Australia National Australia Bank's Business Confidence January 6 8

00:30 Australia House Price Index (QoQ) Quarter IV +2.4% Revised From +1.9% +3.2% +3.4%

00:30 Australia House Price Index (YoY) Quarter IV +8.0% Revised From +7.6% +8.6% +9.3%

00:30 Australia Home Loans December +1.4% Revised From +1.1% +0.9% -1.9%

Australia’s dollar reached a four-week high after home prices and business sentiment climbed. “The Aussie dollar cracked above the 90 level on the back of the business confidence data, and generally, sentiment for the currency is becoming less negative,” said Mitul Kotecha, the Hong Kong-based global head of foreign-exchange strategy at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank SA. “The bias for the U.S. dollar is slightly weaker, and I think it looks like it’s going to be under pressure ahead of Yellen’s speech.”

The greenback fell against the yen before Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen speaks to U.S. lawmakers today. Yellen will speak before Congress today for the first time since being sworn in as Fed chairman on Feb. 3. The Federal Open Market Committee said last month it will cut monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $65 billion, citing labor-market indicators that “were mixed but on balance showed further improvement” and economic growth that has “picked up in recent quarters.” Policy makers next meet on March 18-19.

Data this week may show U.S. retail sales stalled and Chinese import growth slowed. Retail sales probably stagnated in January after a 0.2 percent gain the month before, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the U.S. Commerce Department reports the data on Feb. 13.

Japan’s financial markets are closed today for a national holiday.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.3680

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.6430

USD / JPY: on Asian session the pair traded in the range of Y102.05-30

There is a full calendar on both sides of the Atlantic Tuesday, although largely dominated by central bank appearances over data. The standout feature is undoubtedly the first appearance on Capitol Hill of Janet Yellen as new Fed Chair. The European calendar kicks off at 0800GMT, with the release of the Belgian National Bank annual report. At 1130GMT, Euro-Working Group Chair ThomasWieser will speak on Europe's Financial Architecture, in Frankfurt. ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann is slated to speak on "From dentists to economists - the importance of a consistent monetary regulation of framework", in Karlsruhe, Germany, starting at 1500GMT.