Investing.com - The yen weakened in Asia on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to n U.S. jobs data at the end of the week.
USD/JPY rose 0.44% to 107.79, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7489, up 0.08%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 106.59, down 0.03%.
In data, the AIG Services Index for April came in at 49.7, with the previous month reading at 49.5.
Earlier, jobs data from New Zealand saw the unemployment rate tick up to 5.7% in the first quarter from 5.3% previously and above the 5.5% expected, with the labor cost index for the first quarter up 1.8% year-on-year, above the 1.6% level seen.
The employment change showed a 1.2% gain quarter-on-quarter, well above the 0.7% expected with a participation rate at 69%, above the 68.6% seen.
NZD/USD traded at 0.6931, up 0.23% after the data, which outside of the rise in unemployment was viewed as upbeat.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.15% to 93.16.
Overnight, the dollar eased off a 16-month trough against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as the greenback began to finally recover from last week’s policy decisions by the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve, although gains were expected to remain limited.
Safe-haven demand strengthened after data earlier showed that China’s Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 49.4 in April from 49.7 the previous month, compared to expectations for a rise to 49.9.
The weak data added to concerns over slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
The yen also remained broadly supported after the BoJ chose on last Thursday to hold its monetary policy, defying market expectations for additional monetary easing.
The decision came a day after the Fed kept interest rates on hold last week and indicated that any future interest rate hikes would be data dependent.