Euro steady in Asia

The euro was firm against the dollar in Asian trade on Tuesday amid expectations that the United States will maintain its monetary easing policy to boost its plodding economy.The euro bought $1.3359 in Tokyo morning trade, compared with $1.3356 late Monday in New York, where the European unit climbed to its highest level since the start of March on dovish comments by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.The dollar was at 82.89 yen, almost unchanged from New York. The euro traded at 110.74 yen against 110.68 yen in New York.The dollar is bearish against the euro after Bernankes comments, a senior trader at a major Japanese trust bank told Dow Jones Newswires.In a speech on Monday, Bernanke cautioned that the US labour market remained weak and questioned whether a recent dip in the unemployment rate was sustainable.He signalled that the Fed was likely to keep its stimulus policies in place.The euro was expected to trade in a 1.3330-1.3430 range to the dollar in Asia with an upward bias, the trader said.The euro was also buoyed after Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that Germany may allow a boost in the eurozones war chest to contain its bubbling debt crisis, ahead of European finance minister talks on the issue.In an apparent policy shift amid fierce resistance at home, Merkel said Berlin was now open to combining 500 billion euros ($668 billion) from a permanent rescue fund that comes into effect in July with about 200 billion euros already promised to some of the regions debt-ridden nations.The United States, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have been nudging Germany to take a more aggressive approach to the firewall, saying a bigger fund would help convince investors that Europe has a viable strategy for dealing with its public debt woes.The market was encouraged by Merkels support, National Australia Bank said.This has been discussed for months now, with some German hesitation. The support is a positive sign, but the key will be when it is actually approved, the bank said in a note.European Union finance ministers meet in Copenhagen on Friday to discuss the combined package.