Investing.com - The Aussie fell in early Asia on Wednesday despite a jump in new home sales and stronger consumer sentiment.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7066, down 0.07%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 115.11, down 0.01%.
In Australia the Westpac Consumer Sentiment gauge rose to 4.2% from a drop of 3.5% in the previous month and beat expectations of a 1.0% fall.
Australia also reported that HIA New Home Sales for December jumped 6.0% month-on-month, after a fall of 2.7% in November.
In Japan, the CGPI (corporate goods price index) for January fell 0.9% month-on-month, more than the 0.7% drop seen, and on a year-on-year pace of down 3.1%.
Lower producer prices help cut costs for businesses and households but they also exert downward pressures on consumer prices and could further delay the timing of boosting inflation to 2% from around zero. The BoJ has said producer prices are expected to "continue declining for the time being, reflecting movements in international commodity prices."
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.74% at 96.04.
Investors await Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's semi-annual testimony on Wednesday in front of the U.S. House of Representative's Financial Services Committee. Yellen will make her first public appearance in 55 days and her first since the Fed kick started its first tightening cycle in nearly a decade with its historic decision in December to abandon a seven-year zero interest rate policy.
Overnight, the dollar extended losses against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as concerns over global economic growth continued to dominate market sentiment.
The yen strengthened as Japan’s Nikkei closed down 5.4% overnight, the largest drop in three years amid mounting fears over the health of the global economy and the financial sector.
Concerns over the health of European banks prompted investors to sell financial stocks on Monday, sparking a rout in European and U.S. markets.
Trade volumes were expected to remain thin in Asia with markets in China closed for the five-day long Lunar New Year holiday.