Asian session: The yen touched the lowest level in almost seven months

The yen touched the lowest level in almost seven months as the Bank of Japan holds a two-day meeting amid speculation the opposition party that advocates more aggressive easing will take power in December’s election. Japan’s currency dropped against most major counterparts after Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe was reported to have said he’ll choose someone in favor of inflation targets as the next BOJ governor.

The 14-day relative strength index for the dollar-yen rate rose to 70.4 on Nov. 16, above the 70 level that some traders see as a sign that an asset’s price has gained too fast and may reverse course.

Demand for the euro was limited before European finance ministers gather in Brussels tomorrow. In Europe, finance ministers are aiming to stitch together Greece’s next aid payment this week. In addition to a disagreement between the European Union and International Monetary Fund over softening Greece’s debt target, the ministers will attempt to re-engineer the current bailout without asking taxpayers to put up more money.

Australia’s dollar climbed as gains in Asian shares boosted demand for higher-yielding assets.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $1.2775.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $1.5920.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session, the pair showed a new high of Y81.60, but declined later.

Its a fairly quiet start to the week Monday, a holidy shortened week in The US that sees the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday. The European session sees only limited data Monday, but there are ECB speakers. At 0830GMT, ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann to is scheduled to a give keynote speech at 15th Euro Finance Week, in Frankfurt. European data is expected at 1000GMT, with the release of the EMU September construction output data. The US calendar starts at 1500GMT, the November Housing Market