Asian session: The dollar slid versus most of its major peers

The dollar slid versus most of its major peers for a fourth day as Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans reiterated the case for more monetary easing that tends to debase the greenback.

The U.S. currency touched a seven-week low against the euro after minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s most recent meeting showed many policy makers favor additional measures to stimulate growth.

Demand for the euro was tempered before the release of European purchasing managers’ indexes for manufacturing and services. A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in services and manufacturing in the euro area probably held at 46.5 this month, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before Markit Economics releases the data today. Manufacturing gauges in Germany and France may also show readings below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion, for a sixth month in August, according to separate polls.

The Australian dollar pared an earlier advance of as much as 0.4 percent against its U.S. counterpart after a preliminary reading showed a manufacturing PMI released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was at 47.8 this month. The final figure for July was 49.3.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose by updating the monthly high.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose above $ 1.5900.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell to Y78.50.

European data for Thursday starts at 0600GMT with Germandetailed GDP for the second quarter, which is expected to confirm a final reading of 0.3% q/q. This morning also sees the release of the flash manufacturing/services PMIs for August, including France, which is expected to see manufacturing at 43.7 and services at 50.0 and Germany (43.4/50.1). This leads up to the main EMU release at 0658GMT, which is expected to see manufacturing at 44.2 and services at 47.7 with the composite number at 46.5. At 1700GMT, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to welcome French President Francois Hollande, in Berlin. UK data at 0830GMT sees BBA Lending Data for July, while this isfollowed at 1000GMT with the CBI Monthly Distributive Trades data for August. US data starts at 1230GMT, when initial jobless claims are expected to fall 1,000 to 365,000 in August 18 employment survey week, downsharply from 388,000 in the July 14 employment survey week. US Markit PMI data is due at 1258GMT. US data then continues with the 1400GMT release of July New Home Sales and BLS Mass Layoffs as well as the June FHFA Home Price Index.