Asian session: The yen fell

The yen fell to a four-week low after the Bank of Japan joined the Federal Reserve in expanding monetary easing. The Japanese currency weakened against most of its 16 major counterparts after the BOJ said it will add 10 trillion yen ($127 billion) to its 45 trillion-yen fund that buys assets including government debt. Five of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had predicted BOJ easing while 11 forecast the action by October. The move came after the Fed introduced purchases of $40 billion of mortgage debt a month on Sept. 13 in a third round of so- called quantitative easing.

Demand for the euro was limited ahead of a report tomorrow that economists say will show services and manufacturing industries shrank in the currency bloc for an eighth month. A euro-zone composite index for services and manufacturing industries was at 46.6 in September, little changed from 46.3 the prior month, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. London-based Markit Economics will release the figure that’s based on a poll of purchasing managers in the industries tomorrow. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the currency bloc, will auction 3- and 10-year securities tomorrow. The nation’s benchmark 10-year note yield has fallen to 5.9 percent from the euro-era record of 7.75 percent on July 25 since the European Central Bank unveiled an unlimited bond-purchase program on Sept. 6 aimed at lowering government borrowing costs.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose, departing from the previous day's low.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to yesterday's high.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose above Y79.00.

There is a light European calendar Weds, starting with the UK BOE minutes from the September meeting at 0830GMT.