Asian session: The euro fell against the yen

00:00 Australia Conference Board Australia Leading Index April +0.2% -1.4%

04:30 Japan All Industry Activity Index, m/m April -0.3% +0.2% +0.1%

The euro fell against the yen, halting yesterday’s gain, before Spain sells bonds tomorrow with European leaders struggling to contain the region’s debt crisis. Spanish 10-year yields on June 18 touched 7.29 percent, the highest since euro was introduced in 1999. While yields eased yesterday, they remained above the 7 percent level that pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek rescue packages. The nation is scheduled to sell debt tomorrow maturing in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Demand for the dollar was limited amid speculation the Federal Reserve will decide on further stimulus when it concludes a two-day meeting today. Twelve of 21 primary dealers who trade with the Fed expect some form of monetary easing. The central bank will review new forecasts as it contends with continuing financial stress in Europe and a U.S. unemployment rate that has stayed above 8 percent for 40 consecutive months. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Jefferies Group Inc. predict policy makers will extend the Fed’s so-called Operation Twist. The $400 billion program, announced in September, involves selling short-maturity debt and buying longer-term bonds. The Fed instituted the program following two rounds of quantitative easing, or QE, in which it bought $2.3 trillion of debt to hold down borrowing costs.

New Zealand’s dollar declined after a government report today showed the country’s current-account deficit in the three months through March widened to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product, up from a revised 4.2 percent in the previous quarter.