Asian session: The euro traded 0.3 percent from a two-month high against the dollar

The euro traded 0.3 percent from a two-month high against the dollar on prospects the European Central Bank will today announce unlimited, sterilized bond buying to stem the region’s debt woes. Sterilization involves draining money from other parts of the financial system to offset new funds added. The 17-nation euro maintained gains from yesterday against the yen after two central bank officials said ECB President Mario Draghi favors such a plan.

U.S. corporate employment may have risen by 140,000 in August, the least since May, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg before ADP Employer Services announces the data today. Economists estimate a Labor Department report tomorrow will show payrolls increased by 127,000 last month from July when they added 163,000.

The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets on Sept. 12-13.

The Australian dollar rallied from near a seven- week low after data showed unemployment unexpectedly fell. The jobless rate in Australia fell to 5.1 percent in August from 5.2 percent the previous month, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today. The median estimate of economists was for an increase of 5.3 percent.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose, approaching week’s high.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in a range of $1.5890-$1.5910.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of Y78.35-45.

In the UK, the Halifax will release the House Price Index for August at 0700GMT.  The Bank of England then delivers it's monetary policy decision at 1100GMT. The second estimate of Q2 EMU GDP data is due at 0900GMT, at the same time as German manufacturing orders for July and as the OECD publishes their interim G7 economic forecast. The main focus for Thursday will be on the ECB monetary policy decision at 1145GMT and the following press conference at 1230GMT. Also at 1230GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy are due to hold a press conference, in Madrid. US data starts at 1130GMT with Challenger Layoffs data for August. At 1630GMT, ECB President Mario Draghi is due to deliver a speech at the awarding of the M100 Media Award, in Potsdam.US data continues with the 1215GMT ADP National Employment Report and then the 1230GMT release of the weekly Jobless Claims data. US data continues with the 1345GMT weekly Bloomberg Comfort Index followed at 1400GMT by the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index and Census Bureau Services spending data. The weekly EIA Natural Gas Storage follows at 1430GMT with the weekly EIA Crude Oil Stocks data also today at 1500GMT. Late US data then sees weekly M2 Money Supply data at 2030GMT.