Asian session: The euro fell to a three-month low

00:00 United Kingdom Bank holiday -

01:30 Australia Building Permits, m/m March -7.8% +3.2% +7.4%

01:30 Australia Building Permits, y/y March -15.2% -18.0% -15.0%

01:30 Australia Retail sales (MoM) March +0.2% +0.3% +0.9%

01:30 Australia Retail Sales Y/Y March +1.9% +1.8%

01:30 Australia ANZ Job Advertisements (MoM) April +1.0% -3.1%

01:30 Australia National Australia Bank's Business Confidence April 3 4

The euro fell to a three-month low after Socialist Francois Hollande was elected president of France and as Greek voters flocked to anti-bailout parties, stoking concern austerity efforts in Europe may be derailed. Hollande got about 52 percent of the vote in the French presidential election against about 48 percent for incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, according to estimates by four pollsters. In Greece, New Democracy won 20 percent of the total vote with more than half of the ballots from yesterday’s elections counted, according to the Interior Ministry website. Socialist Pasok, which partnered with New Democracy in securing a second rescue package for the country, trailed in third place with 42 seats. Official projections predicted the two would fall one short of the 151 seats needed to win a majority.

The 17-nation currency slid for a sixth day, its longest series of losses since September 2011, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party had its worst election result in more than half a century in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union recorded its lowest share of the vote since 1950 in the northern state of Schleswig- Holstein. It placed first with 30.9 percent support, while coalition partner the Free Democratic Party slumped to 8.2 percent, according to ZDF television projections. That’s not enough for a rerun of their CDU-FDP coalition.

Australia’s currency was on track for its longest stretch of losses in nine months even after domestic reports showed gains in retail sales and building approvals. Australia’s retail sales climbed 0.9 percent in March after a revised 0.3 percent gain in the previous month, the country’s statistics office said in Sydney today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.2 percent advance. A separate report showed the number of permits granted to build or renovate houses and apartments rose 7.4 percent in March from February, when they dropped a revised 8.8 percent.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair showed a new monthly low, having fallen below $1.3000.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair continued Friday’s falling.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair showed a new monthly low.

A light calendar day on the Continent Monday, giving markets the chance to come to terms with the overnight election results from France, Greece and Germany. At 1000GMT, German manufacturing output numbers are released. There is no UK data, with markets closed for a national holiday. On the other side of the Atlantic, at 1230GMT, Canadian Building permits for March are released. At 1900GMT, the U.S. Federal Reserve Consumer Credit data hits screens Consumer credit usage is expected to rise $9.5 billion in March. Retail sales were reported up 0.8% in the month, both including and excluding motor vehicle sales. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank Pres. Jeffrey Lacker speaks at 2200GMT to business and government executives and community leaders in Greensboro, N.C.