Asian session: The yen climbed against all its major counterparts

The yen climbed against all its major counterparts as economic slowdown concerns enhanced demand for the currency as a haven, overshadowing an unexpected increase in the Bank of Japan  asset-purchase fund. Japan’s currency briefly erased daily gains against the dollar and euro after the BOJ boosted its purchase program and said it’s continuing powerful monetary easing. The BOJ expanded its asset-purchase fund to 45 trillion yen ($566 billion) from 40 trillion yen and held its benchmark rate at between zero and 0.1 percent. Ten of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News expected no change to the BOJ’s policy.

The so-called Aussie dollar led declines among major currencies as data showed Australian employers cut payrolls in June and before a report that may show manufacturing in the euro region remained stagnant in May.

Industrial production in the euro area probably failed to grow in May after two months of decline, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey before the European Union’s statistics office publishes the data today.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to yesterday’s low.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair holds in range $1.5495-$1.5515.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell.

European data for Thursday starts at 0530GMT with France HICP data for June, which is followed at 0600GMT by Germany wholesale prices data. At 0755GMT, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny is due to make opening/closing remarks on the first day of the Joint Vienna Institute conference, in Vienna. The ECB is due to publish the July Monthly Bulletin at 0800GMT, at the same time as the release of the IEA monthly oil market report. EMU data at 0900GMT sees May industrial output. At 1600GMT, ECB President Mario Draghi is due to hold a joint press conference with Bank Al-Maghrib Governor Abdellatif Jouahri, in Casablanca.

US data starts at 1230GMT with the weekly jobless claims data as well as the June Import, Export Price Index. Initial jobless claims are expected to fall 4,000 to 370,000 in the July 7 holiday week after falling in the previous two weeks. Weekly EIA Natural Gas Storage data then follows at 1430GMT. The US is also due to hold a 30-year bond auction today, while at 1800GMT, in the June Treasury Budget Statement, the US Treasury is expected to post a $70.0 billion budget gap in June, compared with the $43.1 billion gap in June 2011. Later on, at 1940GMT, San Francisco Fed President John Williams speaks to the Community Leaders Luncheon sponsored by the Bank and afterward will answer questions of the audience and then of the media. Late US data also includes the 2030GMT release of M2 Money Supply data.

UK data at 0830GMT includes CML Mortgage Approvals and also Vehicle Licensing Statistics for May.