Asian session: The euro rose

The euro rose against the U.S. dollar against the better-than-expected data on the industrial sector of China and the euro area, which led to the closure of some short positions. More favorable production data of China and the positive dynamics of the Asian stock indexes contributed to the improvement of market sentiment. Thus, the index of activity in non-productive sector of China in December rose to 56.0 points against 49.7 points in November. At the same time, the euro constrain actions of rating agencies on sovereign ratings of European countries and the continued caution due to the debt crisis in Europe. One of the important events for the European single currency will be expected to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, scheduled for January 9. It can provide evidence to strengthen cooperation in trying to resolve the debt crisis in the eurozone, it is believed economists.

The Australian dollar rose to a maximum of a few weeks in connection with appearing in early 2012 a higher risk appetite. However, in general, a sharp increase may be due to low liquidity, while the markets reopened after the holidays. Markets in China and Japan remained closed on Tuesday.

EUR/USD: on Asian session the pair gain.

GBP/USD: on Asian session the pair gain.

USD/JPY: on Asian session the pair fell.