Investing.com - The Aussie was slightly weaker in early Asia on Friday ahead of a central bank view on monetary policy and retail sales.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7199, down 0.01%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 116.86, up 0.05%.
In Australia, the AIG Construction index fell to 46.3 in January from 46.8 the previous month. Ahead, comes the latest Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia and fourth quarter retail sales with a 0.9% gain seen.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 96.51.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for January for fresh indications on the strength of the labor market.
Data on Thursday showed that initial jobless claims rose by a larger-than-forecast 8,000 to 285,000 last week, but remained in territory usually associated with a firming labor market.
Overnight, the dollar extended losses against a basket of the other major currencies Thursday as the greenback remained under pressure amid uncertainty over how much the Federal Reserve will be able to raise interest rates this year.
The dollar fell sharply on Wednesday after weak U.S. service sector data and dovish Fed comments prompted investors to trim back expectations on the timing of further rate hikes.
The Institute of Supply Management reported that activity in the U.S. services sector slowed to a near two-year low in January.
New York Fed President William Dudley said the weakening outlook for the global economy and any further strengthening of the dollar could have "significant consequences" for the health of the U.S. economy.