Asian session: The yen rose against all of its 16 major counterparts

The yen rose against all of its 16 major counterparts as concern Europe’s leaders will be slow to implement measures to stem the region’s debt crisis supported demand for Japan’s currency as a haven.

The yen climbed for a second day against the euro before German lawmakers vote on a bailout for Spanish lenders. German lawmakers are due to vote in a special session of the lower house today in Berlin after the Finance Ministry asked parliament in a July 16 letter to support aid of as much as 100 billion euros ($122.8 billion) for Spain’s banks. The money would come from a temporary backstop, the European Financial Stability Facility, and then from the European Stability Mechanism that has yet to be set up.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called on fellow leaders to work harder to make Europe succeed without waiting for German help.

The dollar slid to the lowest in 2 1/2 months versus its Australian counterpart before U.S. data today that may show claims for jobless benefits climbed, boosting prospects the Federal Reserve will add to easing measures that debase the greenback. Figures from the U.S. Labor Department today may show initial jobless claims increased to 365,000 in the week ended July 14 from 350,000 in the previous period, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair was trading in range $1.2275-$1.2295.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair was trading in range $1.5645-$1.5665.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair dropped and showed a new week’s low.

European events start at 0800GMT Thursday with the ECB current account data and Italian industrial orders, while at the same time the Norges Bank releases the Q2 Bank Lending Survey. US data starts at 1230GMT when the level of weekly initial jobless claims is expected to rebound by 15,000 to 365,000 in the July 14 employment survey week after plunging to a 4-year low in the previous week on special factors. At 1400GMT, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is tentatively scheduled to testify to the Senate Banking Committee on Libor rate setting. US data at 1400GMT includes NAR Existing Home Sales, the Philadelphia Fed Survey and also Leading Indicator data.