Asian session: The dollar headed

00:01 United Kingdom Gfk Consumer Confidence January -29 -27 -26

00:30 Australia HIA New Home Sales, m/m December +4.7% +6.2%

00:30 Australia Import Price Index, q/q IV quarter -2.4% +0.5% +0.3%

00:30 Australia Export Price Index, q/q IV quarter -6.4% -1.5% -2.4%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m December 0.0% +0.2% +0.4%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y December +3.5% +3.4% +3.6%

01:30 Japan Labor Cash Earnings, YoY December -1.1% +1.1% -1.4%

05:00 Japan Annualized Housing Starts, bln December 0.911 0.895 0.880

The dollar headed for a sixth monthly decline against the euro before data forecast to show U.S. jobless claims rose. U.S. applications for unemployment insurance payments rose by 21,000 to 351,000 in the week ended Jan. 26, the Labor Department is forecast to report today, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

The greenback traded near its weakest level in more than a year versus Europe’s shared currency and fell against the yen after the Fed said it will continue buying Treasuries and mortgage bonds. The Fed yesterday repeated that its purchases, divided between $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion a month of Treasury securities, will continue “if the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially.”

The central bank also left unchanged its statement that it planned to hold its target interest rate near zero as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and projected inflation stays below 2.5 percent.

The yen rose against all 16 of its major peers as a decline in Asian stocks boosted demand for safer assets.

The New Zealand dollar rose against Australia’s currency for a third day after Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said policy makers expect economic growth to strengthen this year.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $1.3560-80.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to yesterday's high.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell to Y90.70.