Investing.com - The yen held weaker in Asia on Thursday after mixed data on machinery orders while the Kiwi posted gains after a cut in the benchmark interest rate as the central bank sought to tamp down expectations of more to come.
USD/JPY changed hands at 105.75, up 0.08%, and AUD/USD traded at 0.7662, up 0.34%.
In Japan, core machinery orders for September fell 3.3% month-on-month compared to a 0.8% decline seen for the second straight monthly decline, and gained 4.3% year-on-year, compared to a 3.5% increase expected.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the official cash rate 25 basis points to 1.75% on Thursday as widely expected and signaled a very mild easing bias while acknowledging numerous uncertainties may require action.
NZD/USD traded at 0.7299, up 0.29%.
Australia reported home loans for September jumped 1.6%, compared with a 2.0% fall expected month-on-month and invest housing finance gained 4.6% from a 0.1% gain the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 98.66.
Overnight, the dollar turned higher against the other majors currencies on Wednesday, as the greenback continued to recover from sharp losses posted following news Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States.
Following the news, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said the ECB is ready to intervene in markets in an emergency. Japan reiterated its readiness to intervene in currency markets on Wednesday morning. The country’s Finance Minister Taro Aso had said on Tuesday that Tokyo will need to respond to moves in the currency markets if the U.S. election results cause a sudden spike in the yen.