Asian session: The euro declined

The euro approached an 11-year low against the yen before France sells bonds today on concern the region’s governments and banks will struggle to raise funds. The 17-nation currency slumped against most major peers after Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned his country may face economic collapse as soon as March.

France will auction bonds maturing from 2021 to 2041 today after yesterday’s German sale of 10-year bonds attracted weaker demand than the average over the past five years.

France’s credit outlook was lowered by Fitch Ratings on Dec. 16 on the “heightened risk of contingent liabilities” from the escalating euro-region crisis. Standard & Poor’s is reviewing the top ratings of both France and Germany.

Papademos warned that deeper cuts in incomes are the only way Greece can remain in the euro area and receive more financing from international creditors, according to an e-mailed transcript of his statements to union and business leaders yesterday.

The size of the euro area’s European Financial Stability Facility “remains insufficient,” Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in an interview with Le Figaro.

EUR/USD: on Asian session the pair fell.

GBP/USD: on Asian session the pair traded in range $1,5590-$1,5620.

USD/JPY: on Asian session the pair traded in range Y76,60-Y76,80.

Thursday at 08:00 GMT Switzerland will publish the amount of foreign exchange reserves in December. At 8:00 in the UK will house price index from HBOS in December. At 09:30 GMT the UK will report on the PMI index for the services sector in December, and the Bank of England will publish a quarterly report on credit terms. At 10:00 GMT the euro area statistics to change the volume of industrial orders for October and the producer price index for November. At 13:15 GMT the U.S. will publish the change in the number employed by ADP in December. At 13:30 GMT the index will be released in Canada in commodity prices for November. Day will continue to block statistics from the U.S. Unemployment (13:30 GMT) and the ISM composite index for non-production sphere in December (15:00 GMT). At 15:00 GMT Canada will publish the Ivey PMI index from the December. End the day at 16:00 GMT U.S. data on stocks of crude oil from the Energy Department.