Investing.com - The yen held early gains in Asia on Wednesday as industrial output data came in flat in Japan and the government forecast fluctuations ahead with the market focus turning to U.S. nonfarm payrolls data and China PMI data this week.
USD/JPY changed hands at 102.97, down 0.03%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7527, up 0.23%.
In Japan, industrial production for July provisionally was flat month-on-month, compared with a 0.8% gain seen. The government said it expects rebound of 4.1% in August and a 0.7% decline in September as output flows fluctuate.
In Australia, private sector credit for July gained 0.4% as expected month-on-month. Housing credit rose 0.5%, unchanged from June.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.12% to 95.93.
Overnight, the dollar hit fresh two-week highs against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after comments by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer added to expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike. According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, investors are pricing in a 24% chance of a rate hike by September.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to an 11-month high of 101.1 this month from a reading of 96.7 in July, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 97.3. August’s reading was its highest since September 2015.
Analysts had expected the index to slip to 97.0 in August.
The greenback also remained supported after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said earlier Tuesday that the U.S. labor market is almost at full strength and the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
The comments came during an interview with Bloomberg TV as investors looked ahead to the nonfarm payrolls report for July, scheduled for Friday.
The U.S. dollar had already strengthened broadly after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech at Jackson Hole last Friday that the case for raising U.S. interest rates has strengthened in recent months, citing improvements in the labor market and hopes for modest economic growth.