Euro Strengthens Against Majors; ECB's LTRO In Focus

The euro climbed against other major currencies ahead of the London session on Tuesday, as investors focus on the European Central Bank's second round of long-term refinancing operation due on Wednesday.

The ECB's longer-term refinancing operation, a three-year loan program, was introduced in December last year to avert a liquidity squeeze that could have cut bank lending to European companies. More than 500 banks have borrowed EUR 489 bln in December.

The euro that closed Monday's European session at 1.3404 against the dollar showed choppy trading in the New York session as the news of Greece's credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poor's failed to influence the pair. But the euro gained in Asian deals and is currently worth 1.3440. If the euro rises further, it may likely target the 1.346 level.

Against the pound, the euro is presently trading at 0.8487, up 0.3 percent from Monday's European session close of 0.8462. If the euro-pound pair climbs further, it may likely target the 0.851 level.

The euro-franc pair is now trading at a 4-day high of 1.2058, compared to Monday's European session close of 1.2053. On the upside, 1.207 is seen as the next target level for the euro.

The euro declined to 107.32 against the yen in early deals as traders bought the safe-haven Japanese currency after Elpida Memory Inc., Japan's sole manufacturer of dynamic random access memory chips, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. But the euro-yen pair rebounded in late trading and the pair is now worth 108.27 with 109.0 seen as the next upside target level. The pair ended Monday's European trading at 107.92.

Looking ahead, Swiss UBS consumption indicator for January, Eurozone economic confidence index for February, German GfK consumer confidence index for March and the preliminary German CPI for February are expected in the European session.

The U.S. durable goods orders for January, S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for December, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for February and the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing index for February are scheduled for release in the New York morning session.