Asian session: The yen fell against most of its major peers

00:01 United Kingdom Nationwide Consumer Confidence February 47 49 44

02:00 China Leading Index February +1.6% +0.8%

The yen fell against most of its major peers before data forecast to show U.S. sales of new homes rose last month, damping demand for haven assets. In the U.S., sales of new homes probably climbed to a 325,000 annual rate in February from 321,000 the previous month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists before today’s report. That would be the fastest since December 2010.

The dollar gained for the first time in three days versus the yen after Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said monetary policy may be at a “turning point” as the world’s largest economy rebounds. With Fed policy currently “on pause, it may be a good time to take stock of whether we may be at a turning point,” Bullard said in a speech in Hong Kong today. The U.S. economy may expand 3 percent this year, he said, “the outlook has improved markedly” over the past eight months. The Fed has held its target rate to a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range $1.3190-$ 1.3215.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range $1.5810-$ 1.5825.

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

European data for Friday starts at 0700GMT with construction orders from Germany, which is followed by France data at 0745GMT, including Q4 employment data and Manufaturing and Services  sentiment data. US data starts at 1400GMT with BLS Mass Layoffs data and the pace of new home sales, which has been forecast to increase slightly to a 327,000 annual rate in February after a small decline in January broke a string of four straight increases. At 1930GMT, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart speaks to students at Georgetown University in Washington on his career and the Fed. Late US data sees the 2015GMT release of C&I loans.