Investing.com - The Aussie was down and the yen a tad weaker in Asia on Thursday as China starts a week-long holiday, though key manufacturing data will be releaed.
AUD/USD traded at 0.6998, down 0.31%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 119.93, up 0.05%.
Today, China starts a week-long holiday to mark the country's National Day. But a number of releases are due out of China despite the holiday. At 0900 Beijing time (0100 GMT), there's the Sep CFLP manufacturing and services PMI releases.
Then at 0945 (0145 GMT), the final reading of the Caixin manufacturing PMI for September is due, along with the services PMI. The flash manufacturing PMI reading came in at 47.0, the lowest since March 2009.
In Japan, the main event is the BoJ's quarterly Tankan business survey due at 0850 Tokyo time (2350 GMT).
In Australia, August job vacancies are due at 1130 Sydney (0130 GMT). Also today, AI Group publishes its manufacturing index. In August the index expanded for the second straight month but only three of the eight sub-sectors were in expansion, and four of the seven sub-indexes expanded.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.04% at 96.38.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of a strong U.S. non-farm private employment report and as investors eyed a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen scheduled later in the day.
Payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 200,000 this month, above expectations for an increase of 194,000.
The economy created 186,000 jobs in August, whose figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 190,000.
Separately, market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index tumbled by 5.7 points to 48.7 this month from a reading of 54.4 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall 1.4 points to 53.0 in September.
Investors noted comments by Fed Chair Janet Yellen who pointed to the "significant improvement" the economy has made in recent years as she spoke Wednesday about the challenges facing the nation's community banks.
Yellen avoided further comments on the economy or on monetary policy less than a week after she said the Fed had moved far enough toward achieving its employment and inflation goals that an initial hike in the federal funds rate is likely "sometime later this year."