Asian session: The yen dropped

00:30 Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence September +3.5% +4.7%

The yen dropped to its lowest level in seven weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama called for a pause in authorizing military strikes on Syria, and a worldwide equity rally eroded demand for Japan’s currency as a haven. Obama said in a live broadcast from the White House he would prefer a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict and that he saw “encouraging signs” of diplomacy ending the confrontation over the Bashar al-Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons. He said he’s asked Congress to postpone a vote on a military strike.

The dollar rose against its major peers before Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley speaks tomorrow amid forecasts that policy makers will announce a slowing in bond purchases next week. The New York Fed’s Dudley said July 2 that economic growth will probably quicken in 2014, possibly warranting a reduction in bond purchases. The Fed is forecast to slow its monthly buying to $75 billion from the current $85 billion pace at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News on Sept. 6.

The pound traded near the highest since June before data estimated to show U.K. jobless claims fell for a 10th month. In the U.K., unemployment claims probably fell by 21,000 in August, following a 29,200 decline the previous month, according to a poll of economists before today’s report. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 7.8 percent, the lowest since November.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair is trading around the $ 1.3260

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair trading around the $ 1.5730

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair rose Y100.60

There is data on both sides of the Atlantic Wednesday, with the release of the UK employment data likely to be the stand out event. The European calendar gets underway at 0530GMT, when the French second quarter job creations numbers will cross the wires. At 0600GMT, German final August HICP data will be published. Analysts are looking for the rate to be unchanged on month and higher by 1.6% on the year. Further French data will be released at 0645GMT, when the July current account data will be released. At 0700GMT, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will deliver the latest 'State of the Union' speech, talking at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France. At 0900GMT, Germany's opposition SPD shadow labour minister Klaus Wiesehuegel presents their labour policy program, in Berlin, as the campaign enters the final 10 days. Back in Europe, at 1700GMT, ECB Executive Board Member Joerg Asmussen is slated to speak in Berlin. Sovereign issuance sees Germany sell a new 10-year benchmark Aug 2023 Bund issue for up to E5.0bln. Italy plans to issue new 12-month BOT, maturing Sep 15, 2014 for E8.5bln and a new 3-month flexible T-bill, maturing Dec 13, 2013 for E3.0bln.