ForexLive Asia-Pac wrap: Earthquake in New Zealand

Magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Christchurch, no major damage reported US politicians agree to extend payroll tax for two months Fed's Plosser hints at changes to Fed's communication strategy France is gloomiest country on economy in 33 years MNI China business sentiment survey declines Slovenia downgraded to A1 from AA3 EUR/AUD hits a fresh record low Canada's fin min lectures Europe once again but leaves door open for IMF and G20 aid ASX gains 1.2%, Japan closed for holiday AUD leads, JPY lags Gold up $6 to $1611 Not bad for a pre-Christmas session and with Japan closed. A solid 'risk on' tone permeated and volatility remained relatively low. The euro crept higher from 1.3050 at the open to 1.3080 before paring its gains in the last hour on some apprehension about European flows. It was a similar pattern throughout. One exception was the kiwi which whipsawed 30 pips on the earthquake headlines. At first it seemed as though there may have been a reasonable amount of damage (the deadly quake last year was a 6.3) but the first reports indicated nothing disastrous and NZD rebounded in 20 minutes. The positive tone and flows from NZD into AUD made pushed AUD easily to the top of the chart. AUD/USD climbed a respectable (for the asia-pac session) 50 pips at one point and has held most of its gains. There is no Asia-Pac coverage planned for Monday but I will be back Tues and Wed then Sean will return for the remainder of the week. Joyeuses Fêtes!