Asian session: The yen sank to a six-month low

The yen sank to a six-month low on prospects Japanese elections next month will hand power to the opposition party that advocates more aggressive monetary easing. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday he will dissolve parliament, triggering an election that polls indicate his ruling Democratic Party of Japan may lose. The vote for the lower house will be held Dec. 16, acting DPJ secretary- general Jun Azumi said last night. Japan’s currency was set for the biggest two-day drop since March on speculation the election will favor Shinzo Abe, who today called for unlimited easing by the Bank of Japan.A victory for the opposition Liberal Democratic Party would reinstateAbe as premier. In a speech today in Tokyo, Abe reiterated his call for the BOJ to set an inflation target of up to 3 percent, and said it should cut benchmark interest rates to zero or lower.

The euro slid versus most peers before data forecast to show the currency bloc’s economy shrank a second quarter. In the euro area, advance estimates due today will probably show gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent in the three months through September from the previous period, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. That follows a 0.2 percent drop in the second quarter and would lead to the first technical recession since 2009.

The Dollar Index (DXY) was near a two-month high as tensions in the Gaza Strip spurred demand for haven assets.

Australia’s currency weakened versus most major peers after a Reserve Bank report on foreign-exchange transactions. The RBA sold A$483 million ($501 million) more Australian currency than it bought in October through the so-called other outright transactions category, which can include foreign central banks. That’s the most since June 2009, the data showed.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair was trading around $ 1.2735.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose, departing from the previous day's low.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose to Y80.95.

A full calendar on both sides of the Atlantic kicks off at 0630GMT, when French third quarter GDP data is set for release. Further early evidence over the state of the European economy will be offered at 0700GMT, when Germany's Q3 GDP data will cross the wires. Further French data is expected at 0730GMT, when the French October Banque de France retail survey is due for release. With the individual nation growth numbers now out, overall EMU Q3 GDP data will  cross the wires at 1000GMT, the same time as EMU October final HICP.