Asian session: Japan’s currency headed

00:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence February 64.1 70.8

00:05 United Kingdom Gfk Consumer Confidence February -7 -6 -7

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m January +0.5% +0.5% +0.4%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y January +3.9% +4.1%

05:00 Japan Housing Starts, y/y January +18.0% +15.3% +12.3%

China’s yuan slid by the most since 2008 on speculation the government will broaden the currency’s trading band.

Japan’s currency headed for its biggest weekly advance in a month amid speculation its central bank may delay expanding stimulus with the inflation rate at a five-year high. In Japan, consumer prices excluding fresh food increased 1.3 percent in January from a year ago, statistics bureau data showed today. That matched the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey and the December figure which was the most since October 2008.

The dollar was set for a monthly drop against major counterparts before U.S. data economists say will show weaker fourth-quarter growth. The U.S. Commerce Department may say today that the world’s largest economy expanded 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the previous reported growth of 3.2 percent, economists forecast. Yellen appeared before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday after the previously scheduled hearing was postponed on Feb. 13 owing to a snowstorm.

The Swiss franc reached the strongest in 10 months per euro after Russian President Vladimir Putin put fighter jets on alert.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $ 1.3695

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.6675-95

USD / JPY: on Asian session the pair fell to Y101.95

There is no easy roll into the weekend, with another full calendar Friday, will a full programme on both sides of the Atlantic. The main data release will likely be the Eurozone inflation data, which could tip the balance of opinions on the ECB Council ahead of next week's meeting. The European calendar gets underway at 0700GMT, when the German January retail sales data are published. At 0745GMT, French January consumer spending and January PPI numbers will cross the wires. Ahead of the integrated EMU inflation data, Spanish and Italian flash February data will be published at 0800GMT and 0900GMT respectively. In between, at 0815GMT, the Swiss February KOF economic barometer numbers are set to be released. At 0900GMT, ECB Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger will deliver a speech on banking, in Frankfurt. Also at 1000GMT, the session's main data is expected, when the EMU January unemployment data and the February flash HICP numbers cross the wires. Unemployment is seen unchanged at 12%, with HICP seen down 0.1% on month, higher by 0.6% on year.

The US events calendar gets underway early, when Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher delivers a speech on monetary policy, in Zurich at 1000GMT. The US data calendar starts at 1200GMT, when the MBA Mortgage Index for the February 21 week crosses the wire. Canadian fourth quarter GDP data will be released at 1330GMT. Halle Institute's Claudia Buch, BOE Gov. Mark Carney, BBK Board member Andreas Dombret and BaFin President Elke Koenig appear at a conference to discuss financial regulation, in Frankfurt also at 1330GMT. The afternoon sees two Fed appearances. At 1515GMT, Federal Reserve Gov. Jeremy Stein and Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota appear on a panel discussing monetary policy and financial stability, in New York. Later, at 1830GMT, Chicago Fed's Charles Evans and Philadelphia Fed's Charles Plosser appear on the same panel to discus communications and unconventional monetary policy