Asian session: The euro remained lower against the yen

The euro remained lower against the yen following a decline yesterday before German factory data that may add to signs Europe’s debt crisis is damping growth. Factory orders in Germany, the euro zone’s biggest economy, probably declined 6 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey before today’s figure. Orders fell 3.8 percent in April.

The European Central Bank will probably reduce borrowing costs at a policy meeting today to stimulate the euro-area’s flagging economy, according to a Bloomberg News poll. The ECB is likely to lower its main refinancing rate by a quarter-percentage point from a record low of 1 percent, a separate Bloomberg poll of economists shows.

Spain is scheduled to auction 3-, 4- and 10-year bonds today. The nation’s benchmark 10-year yield jumped 16 basis points yesterday, the most since June 26, to 6.41 percent. That compared with a euro-era high of 7.29 percent reached June 18.

The pound maintained a three-day slide on speculation the Bank of England will extend its so-called quantitative easing program today. The central bank will probably raise its target for bond purchases by 50 billion pounds ($78 billion) to 375 billion pounds, according to 30 of 41 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The yen touched the lowest in more than a week versus the dollar before erasing losses as Asian shares declined. The Bank of Japan will continue powerful monetary easing, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said today to the central bank’s regional branch managers in Tokyo. Nervousness is seen in global financial markets and there’s uncertainty in the worldwide economy, he said.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair receded from yesterday's low.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair holds in range $1.5580-$1.5600.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair showed a new week's high, but declined later .

The focus for Thursday is clearly on the monetary police decision due from the Bank of England and European Central Bank. Ahead of then, data is limited with German manufacturing orders at 1000GMT expected to come in at 0.2% m/m, -5.6% y/y. The Bank of England is up first with it's policy decision due at 1100GMT. The near consensus view is that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will expand quantitative easing at this month's meeting - the debate is all about by how much. The ECB decision is then due, at 1145GMT. MNI sent an ECB sources story earlier this week in which senior Eurozone central bankers told MNI that the surprisingly far-reaching Summit decisions by EU leaders have cleared the way for the ECB to cut interest rates, though a definitive decision by the Governing Council has not yet been taken.