Asian session: The dollar held a gain from yesterday

00:30 Australia RBA Meeting's Minutes

01:30 China Property Prices, y/y February +9.6% +8.7%

The dollar held a gain from yesterday versus the yen before the Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting at which policy makers are expected to trim asset purchases that tend to debase the greenback. U.S. policy makers will meet today and tomorrow in the Federal Open Market Committee’s first gathering led by Fed Chair Janet Yellen since she succeeded Ben S. Bernanke last month. The central bank has cut monthly bond purchases to $65 billion this year, from $85 billion in 2013. Yellen last month pledged further “measured” steps to slow the buying if improvement continues.

The yen remained lower against most of its 16 major peers as concern eased that Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine would spur turmoil in the region. The European Union and the U.S. imposed sanctions on individuals in Russia and Crimea amid the standoff. Crimean lawmakers set in motion measures for the Black Sea peninsula to leave Ukraine and join Russia after a March 16 plebiscite, which EU and U.S. leaders have condemned as illegal. Russia has deployed about 60,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, according to the government in Kiev.

The Australian dollar gained briefly after minutes of the Reserve Bank meeting this month reiterated a period of interest-rate stability was likely. The central bank said it saw more signs record-low interest rates were boosting growth, and reiterated a period of steady borrowing costs was likely.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.3920-40

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.6630-45

USD / JPY: on Asian session the pair traded in the range of Y101.65-95

The European calendar starts at 0700GMT, when the German Feb wholesale prices data will be published. At the same time, the EMU February ACEA car registrations data will cross the wires. At 0800GMT, Spanish fourth quarter labour costs will be released. However, at the same time, much of the market's attention will be focused on Karlsruhe in Germany, where the German Constitutional Court will give its final ruling on the European Stability Mechanism. The Court has already made a provisional ruling in favour of the ESM - with some caveats - and is not expected to deviate from that ruling. At 1000GMT, the EMU January trade balance data will be released, although the German March ZEW survey will be the most watched. At the same time, ECB Supervisory Board Chair Daniele Nouy will appear before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. At 1300GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho hold a press conference after a meeting in Berlin. Across the Atlantic, the US calendar gets underway at 1145GMT, when the ICSC-Goldman Store Sales for the March 15 week will be released. The main US data will be published at 1230GMT, when the February housing starts and building permits data is released, along with the February CPI. The core CPI is also expected to be up 0.1%. Also due for release at 1230GMT is the Canadian January manufacturing survey. The US Redbook Average for the March 15 week are due for release at 1255GMT. At 1300GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho hold a press conference after a meeting in Berlin.