Asian session: The euro slid versus 12 of its 16 major counterparts

The euro slid versus 12 of its 16 major counterparts before Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos hammers out details of measures to curb the nation’s debt with the leaders of three political parties. The 17-nation currency maintained a decline from yesterday on concern Greece’s leaders will fail to reach an agreement allowing the country to get a second bailout from international creditors.

Greece and its international creditors still need to detail 600 million euros ($786 million) of fiscal measures for 2012, a government official said in Athens yesterday. Papademos began a second round of negotiations today with the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund in Athens on possible spending cuts.

The prime minister will bring the leaders of the three parties supporting him back to the table later today in a bid to forge agreement on terms for a second aid package to prevent the country’s collapse.

The Australian dollar gained against all of its 16 major peers after the central bank maintained the benchmark interest rate at 4.25 percent. All but three of the 27 economists in a Bloomberg News survey had forecast a cut to 4 percent. The Australian dollar advanced 0.7 percent to $1.0797 and touched $1.0811, the strongest since Aug. 2. Leaving the cash rate at 4.25 percent was a big surprise to consensus, so it’s not surprising to see Aussie jumping. The RBA has left the door open for a rate cut going forward, but the onus is going to be on the data.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair fell.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair weakened.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair gain.

A fairly quiet calendar Tuesday, although much focus will continue on the Greek debt/bailout talks, as PM Papademos again meets with the leaders of the political parties. Calendar events begin at 0700GMT, when SNB Acting Chairman Thomas Jordan is slated to give a speech in Geneva. At 1100GMT, Germany December industrial output data are released. US data kicks off at 1145GMT, when the US ICSC-Goldman weekly mall sales numbers are out. At 1330GMT, Canada December Building permits are out. The Johnson Redbook weekly chain store sales data are released at 1355GMT. The big event of the day is at 1500GMT, when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on the economy to the Senate Budget Committee. Also at 1500GMT, US Job Openings ,Labor Turnover Survey numbers are released. At 1630GMT. The last data release of the day is at 2000GMT, when the Consumer Credit numbers are released.