Asian session: The Dollar Index rose

00:00 China Bank holiday

05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence May 44.5 44.8 44.5

05:45 Switzerland Unemployment Rate May 3.1% 3.2% 3.2%

06:00 Japan Eco Watchers Survey: Current March 56.5 56.3 55.7

06:00 Japan Eco Watchers Survey: Outlook May 57.8 57.1 56.2

The Dollar Index rose for a second day before Federal Reserve of St. Louis President James Bullard speaks today amid speculation the central bank will slow monetary stimulus as the economy improves. Fed Policy makers led by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will trim their so-called quantitative easing program to $65 billion a month at the Oct. 29-30 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, from the current level of $85 billion, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars dropped after Chinese imports fell, dimming the demand outlook for the South Pacific nations' exports. Shipments into China fell 0.3 percent in May from a year earlier, down from a 16.8 percent expansion in April, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on June 8.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair was trading around $1.3190/30

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of $1.5520/60

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range Y97.70/50

There is a fairly modest calendar on Monday with limited releases on both sides of the Atlantic, as the main economi releases are due later in the week. The calendar gets underway at 0630GMT, with the release of the Bank of France April business survey expected at 0630GMT. At 0645GMT, the April industrial output data is set for release. The Italian industrial output numbers are due for release at 0800GMT. More Italian data is expected at 0900GMT, with the firt quarter GDP numbers set to cross the wires. At 1000GMT, the OECD leading indicators will be released. At 1900GMT, at the same Montreal conference, ECB Governing Council members Luis Linde, Carlos da Silva Costa and SNB board member Jean-Pierre Danthine will speak.