Asian session: The yen slid from a two-week high

00:00 Australia MI Inflation Gauge, m/m August +0.5% +0.1%

00:00 Australia MI Inflation Gauge, y/y August +2.7% +2.1%

01:30 Australia Building Permits, m/m July -6.3% Revised From -6.9% +4.1% +10.8%

01:30 Australia Building Permits, y/y July -13.0% +20.0% +28.3%

01:30 Australia Company Operating Profits Quarter II +3.5% Revised From +3.0% +1.1% -0.8%

01:45 China HSBC Manufacturing PMI (Finally) August 50.1 50.2 50.1

The yen slid from a two-week high against the euro as Shinzo Abe got backing for a sales-tax increase from panels that urged an increase in stimulus to cushion the economic blow.  Japanese companies’ capital spending was unchanged in the second quarter from a year earlier, a Ministry of Finance report showed today. The median forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg News was for a 2.1 percent decline. The Bank of Japan will start a two-day meeting on Sept. 4.

Australia’s dollar gained after a Chinese factory gauge rose to a 16-month high, boosting trade prospects. In China, the Purchasing Managers’ Index of manufacturing rose to 51.0 last month, the highest since April 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics said in Beijing yesterday. HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics’ PMI for China rose to 50.1 last month from 47.7 in July, final readings released today showed. A reading above 50 indicates growth. China is Australia’s biggest trading partner.

Losses in the 17-nation euro were limited before data forecast to confirm manufacturing in the currency bloc expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years. A final reading on a manufacturing index by Markit Economics based on a survey of purchasing managers will confirm an increase to 51.3 in August, the highest since June 2011, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $ 1.3190

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.5565

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair rose to Y98.70

European markets although there's insufficient momentum in either direction ahead of the US holiday today. There was some initial focus on Germany, where opposition chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck failed to deal a decisive blow to incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel in a highly watched television duel. UK mfg PMI data due at 0828GMT.