By: Barbara Zigah

In earlier Asian trading, the Euro continued its rally against the U.S. Dollar, given respite by yesterday’s successful Italian and Spanish bond auctions. Most analysts agree that any further gains for the Euro are likely to be limited as the emergency summit of European policymakers sets to meet to discuss possible solutions to the several sovereign debt crises which are plaguing the area. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has quashed any grand expectations, however, saying that it was unrealistic for investors to believe that the meeting would yield one single, final resolution that would enable the Greek tragedy to disappear.

As reported at 3:06 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD pair was lower at 1.4143; this follows the earlier rise to $1.4168 on top of yesterday’s 0.3% gain. Just last week, the Euro struck a 4-month low against the greenback, trading at $1.3838. The Euro also edged up against the Swiss Franc, trading at 1.1688 Swiss Francs, a gain of 0.2%, adding to Monday’s gain when the Euro surged 1%. Currently, the Euro is trading down at 1.1657 against the Swiss Franc.

Whetted risk appetite helped to boost the Australian Dollar, which edged up 0.2% against the U.S. Dollar to trade at $1.0747; the Aussie also moved 0.3% higher against the Japanese Yen, to 85.11 Yen.