Asian session: The yen remained lower

00:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence December 22.7 39.4

00:00 Australia HIA New Home Sales, m/m January +6.2% +4.2%

00:01 United Kingdom Gfk Consumer Confidence February -26 -26 -26

00:30 Australia Private Capital Expenditure Quarter IV +2.8% +1.1% -1.2%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m January +0.4% +0.3% +0.2%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y January +3.6% +3.7% +3.6%

05:00 Japan Housing Starts, y/y January +10.0% +8.9% +5.0%

The yen remained lower after a two- day drop as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to be the next Bank of Japan governor, raising the prospects for more stimulus. Kuroda said in a Feb. 11 interview he favors additional stimulus this year, and the central bank has “really substantial room for monetary easing.” Japan’s currency held declines versus most major peers after Abe also named Kikuo Iwata, an economics professor, and BOJ official Hiroshi Nakaso as deputy governor candidates.

The greenback was set to complete a monthly gain against most main counterparts before data that may show the U.S. economy expanded in the fourth quarter rather than contracted. The greenback may extend monthly gains today with a Commerce Department report estimated to show gross domestic product rose an annualized 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the preliminary estimate of a 0.1 percent contraction, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Recent U.S. data has showed a narrower trade deficit, more construction spending and a pickup in business investment.

Australia’s dollar rallied after a report showed companies will continue to invest into next year, lessening the chance of interest-rate cuts. In Australia, companies forecast they will spend A$152.5 billion ($156.7 billion) in 2013-14, compared with an estimated A$168.2 billion in 2012-2013, the Bureau of Statistics said today in Sydney. Fourth-quarter capital spending fell 1.2 percent from the previous three-month period, when it rose a revised 1.1 percent. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 1 percent increase.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.3130-60.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.5155-75.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of Y92.15-65.