Asian session: The shared currency held a five-day gain versus the yen

The shared currency held a five-day gain versus the yen after Germany’s Spiegel magazine reported the European Central Bank’s governing council may decide at its next gathering to set yield limits on each country’s debt. Given the ECB’s ability to print money, it will have unlimited funds to buy member-nation bonds and prevent speculators from driving interest rates above preset limits, Spiegel reported without saying where it got the information. An ECB official declined to comment on the report. Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who also heads the group of euro-area finance ministers, will discuss the request by Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras for a two- year extension to the indebted nation’s fiscal adjustment program when he visits Athens on Aug. 22.

The dollar reached a five- week high against its Japanese counterpart before the Federal Reserve releases minutes in two days of its most recent meeting. The Fed is due to release on Aug. 22 minutes of its two-day gathering that concluded on Aug. 1, when officials refrained from boosting monetary stimulus, a move which could debase the U.S. currency. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee will next meet on Sept. 12-13.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in a range of $1.2320-$1.2345.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in a range of $1.5675-$1.5700.