Asian session: The euro touched a 4 1/2-month high against the yen

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) March +4.1% +1.6%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) March +1.4% +2.2%

01:00 Australia RBA's Governor Glenn Stevens Speech 0

The euro touched a 4 1/2-month high against the yen as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European officials have discussed combining euro-area bailout funds to reinforce the region’s financial firewall. European finance ministers have discussed “combination possibilities” for the permanent and the temporary rescue funds ahead of a March 30 meeting in Copenhagen, Merkel said March 16. Ministers may decide to increase the region’s crisis fund to a total capacity of 692 billion euros ($911 billion) when they meet, a euro-area official said separately. Demand for the 17-nation euro was also supported before Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti holds talks with unions and employers to revise labor laws this week.

The yen traded near an 11-month low versus the dollar as Asian stocks extended a four- day rally from last week, damping demand for haven assets. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley speaks today at Melville, New York.

Demand for the dollar was limited after inflation data last week rekindled expectation of additional monetary stimulus after the Fed bought $2.3 trillion of Treasuries and mortgage-backed bonds in two rounds of purchases known as quantitative easing from December 2008 to June 2010. The U.S. consumer-price index excluding food and energy costs climbed 0.1 percent in February, the Labor Department reported on March 16 in Washington, half the pace projected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range $1.3160-$1.3180.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range $1.5825-$1.5850.

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

Monday is devoid of significant macroeconomic data releases from Europe, with just EMU construction output at 1000GMT, while it is also a quiet start in the US. US data sees the 1400GMT by the Housing Market Index from the NAHB and then the 1430GMT release of the weekly Retail Trade Index. US speakesrs start at 1230GMT, when Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher speaks to the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation in London.