Asian session: The euro climbed to a seven-week high

The euro climbed to a seven-week high against the dollar on Wednesday, boosted by efforts to tackle the debt problems of Greece and Spain, while the dollar came under pressure from expectations of new bond buying by the Federal Reserve.

The single currency could soon test its September peak, although many traders are not convinced it has enough traction to make a clean break from that level, given the fragile state of the euro zone economies.

Greece announced this week better-than-expected terms for its debt buyback, fueling optimism it will continue to receive international aid to avoid a debt default.

Spain's formal request for European funds to recapitalise its banks this week also helped boost confidence in the single currency.

In addition, many market players expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to unveil a fresh bond purchase scheme to replace its Operation Twist, a programme that will expire this month, at its policy meeting on Dec. 11-12. Since September the Fed has been buying a total of $85 billion in long-term securities each month to help push down borrowing costs. Many analysts expect the Fed to keep buying a combined $85 billion of Treasuries and mortgage-backed bonds after planned expiry of the Operation Twist, in which it buys $45 billion long-term bonds while selling the same amount of shorter bonds.

The euro also rose to a 11-week high against the Swiss franc, benefiting from a selloff in the Swiss currency after Switzerland's largest banks said earlier in the week they would charge fees and pay negative rates on some franc deposits.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.3125.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.6115.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose to Y82.35.

Wednesday's European calendar gets underway at 0800GMT, with the release of Spanish October industrial output data offering a further look at the depth of the recession in Spain. However, the main releases start from 0813GMT, as eurozone service sector final November PMI numbers cross the screens. Spanish data is at 0813GMT, Italy at 0843GMT, France at 0848GMT, Germany at 0853GMT and the aggregate eurozone PMI is due at 0858GMT. The UK also sees the release of service sector PMI data, with the November Markit/CIPS Services release due at 0930GMT. More EMU data is expected at 1000GMT, with the release of the October retail trade numbers.