Asian session: The dollar declined versus most of its major peers

01:00 Australia Consumer Inflation Expectation July +2.3% +2.6%

01:30 Australia Unemployment rate June 5.5% 5.6% 5.7%

01:30 Australia Changing the number of employed June +1.1 +0.3 +10.3

02:30 Japan BoJ Interest Rate Decision 0.10% 0.10% 0.10%

02:30 Japan BoJ Monetary Policy Statement

02:30 Japan Bank of Japan Monetary Base Target 270 270

The dollar declined versus most of its major peers after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation and unemployment rates show the U.S. economy still requires very accommodative monetary stimulus. “Highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future is what’s needed in the U.S. economy,” Bernanke said yesterday in response to a question after a speech.

The Dollar Index tumbled before a report today that may show continuing jobless claims rose. The U.S. Labor Department will probably say today the number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose to 2.96 million in the period through June 29 from 2.93 million in the previous week, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. First-time claims may have declined to 340,000 in the week ended July 6 from 343,000 in the period through June 28. That underscores views in minutes of the Fed’s last meeting released yesterday, which showed many policy makers want to see more signs that employment is picking up before they’ll begin slowing bond purchases.

The yen held its advance against the dollar after BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his fellow policy makers upgraded their assessment of Japan’s economy, saying it’s starting to recover moderately. Officials kept plans to increase the monetary base by 60 trillion yen ($608 billion) to 70 trillion yen a year and said they expect the core consumer price index to rise 0.6 percent for the current fiscal year, compared with a forecast for a 0.7 percent gain in April.

The Australian dollar touched a 4 1/2-year low versus its New Zealand peer after government data showed Australia’s unemployment rate climbed in June to 5.7 percent from a revised 5.6 percent in the previous month, even after employers added 10,300 jobs.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair is trading around the $ 1.5100

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair is trading around the $ 1.5100

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of Y98.20-Y99.60

There is a full calendar on both sides of the Atlantic Thursday, although the market will initially be focused on the dovish comments from Fed Chair Bernanke in his Q&A session overnight. German data gets us underway with the release of the German June wholesale prices at 0600GMT. Then at 0645GMT, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure will give a keynote address at the Europlace Financial Forum in Paris. At 0800GMT, the June IEA monthly oil market report will be released. At the same time, ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann will give a speech on financial stability, in Munich.