Asian session: The yen extended declines to a second day

01:30 Australia Consumer Inflation Expectation April +2.7% +3.3%

01:30 Australia Unemployment rate March 5.2% 5.3% 5.2%

01:30 Australia Changing the number of employed March -15.4 6.7 44.0

The yen extended declines to a second day against all of its 16 major counterparts after Bank of Japan (8301) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said he will continue pursuing monetary easing. Shirakawa said today that defeating deflation and achieving sustained growth are extremely important tasks for the Bank of Japan. The BOJ unexpectedly expanded bond purchases by 10 trillion yen ($124 billion) on Feb. 14 and set a 1 percent inflation goal.

The dollar weakened against the majority of its peers after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen endorsed the central bank’s “highly accommodative” policy. Further U.S. easing “could be warranted if the recovery proceeds at a slower-than-expected pace,” Yellen said yesterday in a speech in New York. “Over the next several years, I anticipate that we will fall far short in achieving our maximum employment objective, and I expect inflation to remain at or below” the Fed’s 2 percent target, Yellen said.

Australia’s currency, known as the Aussie, strengthened against all of its 16 major peers. The number of people employed rose by 44,000 in Australia last month, the statistics bureau said today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated an increase of 6,500.

The euro was 0.2 percent from a three- month low against the pound before Italy sells bonds today. Italy will sell bonds today maturing in 2015, 2020 and 2023. The nation’s benchmark 10-year yield touched a two-month high of 5.73 percent yesterday before falling 15 basis points from the previous day. Spain will offer bonds on April 19.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair gain come nearer to yesterday's high.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair gain come nearer to yesterday's high.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair holds in range Y80.80-Y81.05.

European data starts early on Thursday, with the 0530GMT release of HICP data for France. European data continues at 0645GMT with

France current account data. Also at 0800GMT, the IEA monthly oil market report is due along with the latest ECB monthly bulletin for

March. UK data at 0830GMT sees Trade data along with BoE Quoted Rates and also Vehicle Licensing Statistics. Fed speakers for Thursday start at 1115GMT, when New York Fed  President William Dudley will speak to the Center for Economic Development on regional and national economic conditions. US data starts at 1230GMT with the Producer Price Index for March as well as the weekly initial claims for jobless benefits and monthly international trade data.