Asian session: The yen weakened against its major peers

The yen weakened against its major peers before data next week forecast to show Japan’s economy shrank in the third quarter by the most since last year’s record earthquake. Japan’s gross domestic product probably contracted an annualized 3.4 percent in the three months through Sept. 30, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey before a report due Nov. 12.

Demand for the 17-nation euro was limited after a European Union official said a decision on unlocking funds for Greece may not be made until late November.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for the U.S. probably climbed to 83 in November, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the preliminary reading due today. That’s up from the 82.6 reading for October that was the highest since September 2007.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $1.2785.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $1.6000.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose, recovering from yesterday's fall.

A full calendar i scheduled for Friday, to end what has been a landmark week. At 0700GMT, German October final HICP numbers are due.French data is expected at 0745GMT and includes the release of the October Bannque de France business survey, the September industrial output data, the September govt deficit and the October Industrial investment survey. At 0800GMT, ECB Governing Council member Josef Makuch is to give a presentation on the recent state of the banking union set-up, in Bratislava. Also, Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is scheduled to vote on a bill on implementing the EU fiscal pact in Germany; Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble likely to speak, in Berlin. Further data is expected at 0900GMT, with the release of Italian September industrial output. Also at 0900GMT, there is an Ecofin meeting on EU '13 budget,in Brussels, ahead of next week's Leaders meet. Data starts just ahead of 0700GMT, with the release of the John Lews weekly store sales data in the UK. UK data released at 0930GMT includes September Construction Output and the September Trade Balance. Further UK data is expected at 1000GMT, with the release of the October Conference Board Leading Indicator.