European session: the euro and the pound falling, rising yen

The euro declined against most of its 16 major peers after the Bundesbank lowered its 2013 forecast for economic expansion in Germany, following the European Central Bank’s euro-area downgrade.

The shared currency remained lower against the dollar after posting the biggest drop in a month yesterday when the ECB reduced growth forecasts, leaving the door open for interest- rate cuts.

The Frankfurt-based Bundesbank cut its growth projection for 2013 to 0.4 percent from the 1.6 percent predicted in June and said the economy, Europe’s largest, will expand 0.7 percent this year, down from its previous forecast of 1 percent. The economy will contract in the fourth quarter and stagnate in the first, the Bundesbank said. It will grow 1.9 percent in 2014, it said.

German industrial production unexpectedly dropped in October as a recession in the euro area and weaker global growth damped demand.

Production fell 2.6 percent from September, when it declined 1.3 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast output would remain unchanged, according to the median of 42 estimates.

The European Union’s statistics office said yesterday that gross domestic product in the euro area fell 0.1 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, when it dropped 0.2 percent. That confirmed an initial estimate last month.

The yen climbed against most major peers after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Japan, mirroring movements in the currency after a record temblor in March 2011. Japan’s currency surged to a record level in the days following the quake and the tsunami that led to meltdowns at a nuclear plant in Fukushima. A tsunami alert was issued for northeast Japan after the quake shook buildings in Tokyo today.

Pound drops against the dollar after the October industrial production in Britain fell more than expected, due to decline in the category of food and alcoholic beverages. Today's data showed the weakness of the economy at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Compared to September, production in the manufacturing sector decreased by 1.3%, the biggest drop in the past four months, according to the national statistics office today in London.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to a new intraday low of $ 1.2898

GBP / USD: during the European session the pair fell to the low of $ 1.6003

USD / JPY: during the European session the pair fell to Y82.17

At 13:30 GMT, Canada will release data on unemployment and employment in November, the change in labor productivity for the 3rd quarter. At 13:30 GMT the U.S. will the unemployment rate, changes in the number of people employed in non-agricultural sector, changes in the number of employees in the private sector of the economy, changes in the number of employees in the manufacturing sector of the economy, changes in the average hourly wage. At 14:55 GMT the U.S. will release consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan in December. At 15:00 GMT the UK there are data on the change in GDP from NIESR for November.