Investing.com - The yen and Aussie held gains Wednesday in Asia with upbeat machinery orders noted in Japan and improved consumer sentiment in Australia.
USD/JPY changed hands at 101.33, down 0.54%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7691, up 0.25%.
In Japan, core machinery orders jumped 8.3%, well above the 3.1% gain seen month-on-month and posted a 0.9% drop year-on-year, better than the 4.2% fall seen. As well PPI figures showed a 3.9% decline, a tad below the 4.0% drop seen year-on-year.
In Australia, the Westpac consumer sentiment index rose 2.0%, rebounding from a 3.0% fall in the previous month.
Also in Australia, home loans for June gained 1.2%, below a 2.4% gain expected month-on-month and invest housing finance for June rose 3.2%, below a 3.9% increase the previous month. Later in the day, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens speaks.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.36% to 95.71.
Overnight, the dollar moved lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, but remained supported by Friday’s strong U.S. jobs report, while investors turned their attention to Friday’s U.S. retail sales data for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The greenback remained broadly supported after Friday’s upbeat U.S. nonfarm payrolls report boosted expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve before the end of the year.
Earlier Tuesday, preliminary data showed that U.S. nonfarm productivity dropped by 0.5% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise, after a 0.6% slip in the three months to March.