Movement:

In the Asian session, The euro held steady on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank meeting and supported after investors encouraged by Greece's fresh austerity measures cut some of their record short positions in the single currency. In the Europe session, The euro pared losses on Thursday after Greece's sale of 10-year bonds drew solid demand, while investors awaited comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet. In the New York session, The dollar rose broadly on Thursday and the euro fell after the chief of the European Central Bank said recovery would be uneven, reducing the chances of a near-term rise in record low euro zone interest rates.

US:

New orders at U.S. factories rose 1.7 percent in January, in line with expectations, led by a big jump in orders for commercial aircraft, a government report showed on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters expected orders to increase 1.8 percent. Factory orders for December were revised up to 1.5 percent. New orders have risen in nine of the last 10  months.

Japan:

Japanese companies cut spending on plant and equipment in October-December by 17.3 pct from the same period in the previous year, Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday.  The pace of decline narrowed from a 24.8 percent annual fall in the July-September period last year.

Euro zone:

European Union statistics agency Eurostat released on Thursday the following data on euro zone and EU gross domestic product (GDP). British factory gate inflation  picked up to a 14-month high in February, but manufacturers'  input price inflation eased more than expected and for the first  time since last July, official data showed on Friday.  The Office for National Statistics said annual producer  output price inflation accelerated to 4.1 percent last month  from 3.8 percent in January, the highest rate since December  2008 and bang in line with forecasts.