Asian session: The yen held gains from yesterday versus most of its major counterparts

00:30 Australia Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) IV quarter +1.0% +0.7% +0.4%

00:30 Australia Gross Domestic Product (YoY) IV quarter +2.5% +2.3% +2.3%

05:00 Japan Leading Economic Index January 94.0 95.1 94.9

05:00 Japan Coincident Index January 93.6 95.0 93.1

The yen held gains from yesterday versus most of its major counterparts as declines in Asian stocks and concern about Greece’s ability to complete a debt swap supported demand for the currency as a refuge. The Greek government, which set a 75 percent participation rate as a threshold for proceeding with its debt swap, said yesterday it will use collective action clauses to compel holders of Greek-law bonds to accept the transaction if it receives sufficient consents from investors.

The goal of the exchange, which runs through tomorrow, is to reduce by 53.5 percent the total of privately held Greek debt, helping avert an uncontrolled default that could roil markets and fuel contagion.

Australia’s dollar touched a six-week low after a report showed the nation’s economy expanded by less than economists had forecast. Australia’s gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, the Bureau of Statistics said today. The median of estimate from economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for an 0.8 percent gain. Data tomorrow may show Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent in February from 5.1 percent in the previous month, according to a separate poll of economists. The RBA yesterday left its overnight cash-rate target at 4.25 percent, in line with the forecast of all 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Traders see about a 36 percent chance the central bank will cut borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point to 4 percent next month.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair restored, after yesterday's falling.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair restored, after yesterday's falling.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in range Y80.55-Y80.95.

On Wednesday US data starts at 1200GMT with the MBA weekly mortgage applications data. This is followed at 1315GMT by the ADP National Employment Report, which has missed the size of the payroll change by a fairly substantial amount in the last few months. At 1330GMT, US Q4 non-farm productivity is expected to be revised up to a 0.9% rate of growth. The weekly EIA weekly crude oil and gasoline stocks data follows at 1530GMT. Late US data sees the 2000GMT release of Treasury Allotments By Class and consumer credit

usage, which is forecast to rise $10.8 billion in January after significant increases in the previous two months that were due in large part to spikes in nonrevolving credit use. Retail sales rose 0.4% in January, while sales were up 0.7% excluding motor vehicle sales.