Asian session: The euro held a one-day gain versus the dollar

The euro held a one-day gain versus the dollar before Germany’s chancellor and the International Monetary Fund’s managing director meet amid optimism Europe’s leaders are taking steps to resolve the debt crisis.

The 17-nation currency remained higher against the yen after yesterday’s advance as the leaders of Germany and France discussed a rulebook for closer fiscal union within the euro area.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece would be the focus of talks with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde today in Berlin. “We want Greece to stay in the euro,” Merkel said in a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy after the two leaders met yesterday.

The franc maintained a three-day gain versus the euro on prospects traders may test Switzerland’s currency ceiling after central-bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand’s resignation. The SNB Bank Council, the central bank’s supervisory board, will hold an extraordinary meeting in Zurich today.Thomas Jordan’s first test as interim president of Switzerland’s central bank will be to prove he can defend the four-month old cap on the franc as well as its chief architect did.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed as Asian stocks rose, boosting demand for higher-yielding assets.

EUR/USD: on Asian session the pair gain.

GBP/USD: on Asian session the pair traded in range $1.5390-$1.5440.

USD/JPY: on Asian session the pair traded in range Y76.80-Y77.00.

European events start at 0700GMT with Germany foreign trade data, which is followed by France foreign trade at 0745GMT.

Core-European data also includes the 1100GMT release of German industrial output data. At 1230GMT German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are due to meet and hold a joint press conference, in Berlin. US data starts at 1430GMT with the weekly Capital Goods Index, which is followed at 1500GMT by the Employment  Trends Index and then at 1530GMT by the weekly  Retail Trade Index. Back in Europe at 1530GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech at a conference of the DBB trade union, in Cologne.