Earlier was hearing talk of buy orders lined up down at 1.3695 to 1.3680.

EDIT: FSA CONFIRMS SANTS TO STEP DOWN IN SUMMER OF 2010.

Cable sits at 1.5575, halfway through aforementioned 65/85 buy orders. 

EUR/GBP up on the day, presently at .8810 from early .8775.  If I remember rightly good old Barclays Capital yesterday had an .8830  target for EUR/GBP.  Not far to go now peeps.

There had been speculation that the EIB, which is owned by EU governments, could be used in some way to help Greece tackle its debt and budgetary problems.

Trade gap widest since January 2009.

Data not helped sterling, cable back bel0w 1.5600 again, presently at 1.5585.

EUR/USD back up at 1.3740.  To say the market was skittish this morning would be an understatement.

Talk now has sell orders up at 89.90/00, stops through 90.10. On the downside, buy orders tipped at 89.00/20, stops just below there, with more buy orders at 88.75 down to 88.50.

Retirement age 61 at present!!!!  No wonder they got problems.

Russia having been buying yesterday around 1.3640 area seems to be booking a little profit this morning, having been noted selling into the early rally.

 Overnight saw the release of UK RICS house price balance up at +32 from +30 in December.

Elsewhere, BRC same store sales fell -0.7% y/y in January, while total annual sales growth came in at 1.2% (the weakest January performance in 15 years) Without reading up on it would guess the crap weather might have had something to do with that.

Today we have UK trade for December at 09:30 GMT,  expected visible -6700; non EU -3100; total -2800.

News Trichet leaving central bankers meeting in Sydney day early to attend EU leaders meeting has the market in a bit of a tizzy, heightening speculation that a Greek rescue plan could be in the offing. Weekend media reports had EU President Herman van Rompuy “quietly hatching a plan” so this speculation is no surprise.

Euro zone data due today:

07:00 GMT: German trade balance for December expected 15.0 bln; current account 19.1 bln

07:00 GMT: German CPI for January (final) expected -0.6% m/m, +0.8% y/y

European stocks expected to open lower this morning.

Stops seen through 1.3720 and 1.3760.

• Trichet leaves Sydney 1 day early to attend ECB meeting
• UK house prices rise in January but activity drops off
• UK January retail sales worst in 15 years
• Suggestions rise that EU might ‘teach speculators a lesson“
• Professional market shows speculative short positions in EUR at record level suggesting hedge funds have increased their bets. Retail market looks to be evenly divided.
• Asian stockmarkets fairly flat despite late Wall Street fall
• Gold makes small gains

It is hard to put an interesting spin on what has been a very quiet session. The EUR was unsure what to do when reports emerged that JC Trichet had left Sydney 1 day early to attend an ECB meeting. Some saw it as a positive, the ECB was about to take some positive steps, others saw it as a negative, more panic meetings for the ECB. Movement was nevertheless confined to fairly tight ranges. The fact that regional stockmarkets have ignored the late fall on Wall Street and managed to finish fairly flat has helped the EUR amd EUR crosses to recover late in the session and finish on their highs. Ranges: EUR/USD 1.3644/94 and EUR/JPY 121.68/122.41.

The GBP was unaffected by conflicting economic data, strong house prices and weak retail sales figures. The market didn’t know what to do so it did nothing. Ranges: 1.5567/1.5618 in cable and .8757/71 in EUR/GBP.

AUD/USD fell to its session low of .8617 early in the day after the late fall on Wall Street but has since recovered as technical accounts continue to buy aead of the 200-day MA. Range: .8617/78.

USD/JPY range 89.17/50.

Markets: Nikkei -0.1%, HK +0.2%, Shanghai +0.2%, Kospi +0.5%. Gold +$2 at $1068/oz.

On the order front, talk of a decent sized barrier at 1.3550.