Asian session: Demand for the euro was limited

01:30 Australia Home Loans May +0.8% +2.3% +1.8%

04:30 Japan Industrial Production (MoM) (Finally) May +2.0% +2.0% +1.9%

04:30 Japan Industrial Production (YoY) (Finally) May -1.0% -1.1%

05:00 Japan BoJ monthly economic report July

Demand for the euro was limited before a government report which may show industrial production in the region declined. Euro-area output probably fell 0.3 percent in May from the previous month when it increased 0.4 percent, a separate Bloomberg poll showed. The European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg is due to release data today.

The greenback was set for its first weekly slide in four against the yen before data next week forecast to show consumer price gains remained below the Fed’s 2 percent target. U.S. consumer prices probably grew 1.6 percent in the 12 months to June after a 1.4 percent year-over-year gain in May, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department releases data on July 16. Labor Department data yesterday showed that initial claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly rose last week to a two-month high.

Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard, who has advocated an increase in asset purchases if inflation slows, is due to speak today. Bullard, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year, speaks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. Minutes of the Fed’s June 18-19 meeting released July 10 showed that he said the central bank should “signal more strongly its willingness to defend its goal of 2 percent inflation” in light of low readings on consumer-price increases.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of $ 1.3075/00

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of $ 1.5165/85

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of Y98.70-Y99.30

There is a full data calendar on both sides of the Atlantic Friday, but perhaps the main feature will likely to be the late comments from Fed officials in the US. The European calendar gets underway at 0630GMT, with the release of the French June Bank of France retail survey. That is followed by the release of the French June HICP data at 0645GMT. Spanish inflation data is expected at 0700GMT, followed by the release of the Italian HICP data at 0800GMT. At 0830GMT, the UK May construction output data will be published, with analysts looking for a fall of 2.8% on year. At 0900GMT, the EMU May industrial output data will cross the wires, with expectations for a fall of 0.3% on month and a fall of 1.3% on year. At 1315GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Slovenian PM Alenka Bratusek will give a joint press conference after meeting in Berlin. At 1330GMT, ECB Executive Board member Vitor Constancio gives a keynote speech at a seminar on Asia's role in the economy, in Singapore.