Asian session: The yen traded 0.3 percent from the strongest level in six weeks against the euro

The yen traded 0.3 percent from the strongest level in six weeks against the euro as signs global growth is slowing boosted demand for haven assets. The yen was set to gain versus all 16 of its major peers this week after Singapore’s economy unexpectedly contracted last quarter and ahead of a report forecast to show U.S. consumer confidence stagnated.

China’s economy expanded by less in the second quarter than the median estimate of economists in Bloomberg News survey. China’s GDP expanded 7.6 percent last quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing today. The pace, the slowest in three years, was still above the estimates of 12 of the 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The euro was 0.3 percent from a two-year low against the dollar after Moody’s Investors Services cut Italy’s bond rating before the nation sells debt today.  Moody’s cut its debt rating to Baa2 from A3.

Italy will sell bonds maturing in 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023 today.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has been lobbying European partners to agree on a plan to give the region’s permanent bailout fund more leeway to buy the bonds of countries meeting their fiscal goals. He wants the the European Stability Mechanism to purchase the debt of nations including Italy and Spain to lower their yields.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair holds in range $1.2185-$1.2220.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair holds in range $1.5410-$1.5450.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair holds in range Y79.25-Y79.40

Friday sees the second day of the high-level eurosystem seminar with Mediterranean countries' central banks, taking place in Casablanca.  Core-European data starts at 0630GMT with the France BoF retail survey, while final June HICP data is due from Spain at 0700GMT and Italy at 0800GMT. US data starts at 1230GMT when producer prices are expected to fall 0.2% in June after plunging 1.0% in April.  At 1355GMT, the University of Michigan Sentiment Index is expected to rebound only slightly to a 73.4 reading in early-July after plunging in June. Later, at 1620GMT, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart speaks to the Mississippi Economic Council, in Jackson. Late data then sees US C&I loans data at 2015GMT.