Asian session: The yen extended weekly drops

The yen extended weekly drops against its major peers as signs of economic weakness along with earnings disappointments at technology companies spurred speculation the Bank of Japan will expand monetary easing. The currency held a three-day slide versus the euro after minutes of Oct. 4-5 policy meeting showed BOJ board members said the nation may have entered a recessionary phase.

The dollar was 0.2 percent from a four-month high versus the yen after U.S. data fanned expectations employment figures today will point to a recovery in the world’s biggest economy. The U.S. Labor Department is likely to say today that a net 125,000 jobs were added to payrolls last month following an increase of 114,000 in September, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The unemployment rate probably rose to 7.9 percent from a three-year low of 7.8 percent, a separate survey showed. Applications for jobless benefits fell 9,000 to 363,000 in the week ended Oct. 27, the Labor Department said yesterday. A separate report from ADP Research Institute showed that companies increased payrolls in October by 158,000, the most since February.

Implied volatility of three-month options for G-7 currencies fell to 7.37 percent, the lowest since October 2007, according to the JPMorgan G7 Volatility Index. A decrease in price fluctuations makes investments in currencies with higher lending rates more attractive because risk becomes smaller that market moves will erase profits on such trades.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to the previous day's low.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $1.6100.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose to Y80.30, updating weekly high.