Asian session: The yen weakened against most of its 16 major counterparts

The yen weakened against most of its 16 major counterparts as Asian stocks advanced and the extra yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries over Japanese government bonds widened to the most in more than two months. The yen briefly pared declines after the Bank of Japan refrained from adding stimulus at a policy meeting today. The BOJ kept its asset-purchase fund at 45 trillion yen ($573 billion) and lending facility at 25 trillion yen, according to a statement released in Tokyo. All 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted no change.

The euro remained lower against the pound following a two-day decline before data forecast to show French industrial production fell. French industrial production probably fell 1.8 percent in June from a year earlier, when it dropped 3.5 percent, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the statistics office Insee releases data tomorrow.

The Australian dollar strengthened against 14 of its 16 major counterparts. The number of people employed in the South Pacific nation rose by 14,000, the statistics bureau said today, exceeding the 10,000 increase predicted by the median economist estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The jobless rate fell to 5.2 percent from a revised 5.3 percent in June.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair rose to $ 1.2385.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair rose to a week's high of $1.5685.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair was traded around Y78.45.