By: Barbara Zigah

With investors hopeful that the new Italian government, under Mario Monti, can push through the necessary reforms that will take the economy forward, the common currency Euro as well as commodity-linked currencies, gained some ground in Asian trading today. Nonetheless, analysts don’t expect the gain to be enduring, as markets are generally skeptical as to whether or not Italy, or Greece which is also being headed by a new prime minister, can fully regain investors’ confidence.

Markets will focus today on the outcome of the Italian bond market; on Wednesday of last week, yields rose well beyond the 7.0% threshold which many believe to be an unsustainable level and though they fell back slightly they still remain at an elevated level. If today’s bond auction yields a positive result that will likely help the Euro extend gains.

As reported at 11:31 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was trading against the U.S. Dollar at $1.3761, down from an intra-session high of $1.3811 and slightly off the $1.3751 in late Friday trading in New York. The Australian Dollar also rose against the U.S. Dollar, trading at a session high of $1.0351 before retreating to $1.0300; resistance is seen at $1.0370 and then $1.0400.