Investing.com – The dollar was steady against other major currencies in Asia on Thursday morning. Market continues to eye the U.S.-Japan meeting that discusses the trade relations between the two countries to look for directional drivers for the greenback and the yen.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 89.36, up 0.01 at 11:00PM ET (03:00 GMT).
The dollar got a lift from the higher 10-year U.S. treasury yields that climbed from 2.82% to 2.87%. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump raised the possibility of rejoining the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal) if Japan proposes a good deal. The Federal Reserve’s officials also continue to speak this week, and investors watch closely if their commentary is hawkish to spark more dollar buying.
The USD/JPY pair gained 0.17% to 107.41. The U.S.-Japan summit was in focus on Thursday, at which U.S President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to intensify trade consultations between the two longtime allies.
"President Trump and I agreed to start talks for free, fair and reciprocal trade deals," Abe said.
Trumps wants a bilateral deal with Japan and said that "If we can come to an arrangement between the U.S. and Japan we would discuss taking all proposed steel and aluminium tariffs". Japan, despite being a long-term U.S. ally, currently is not exempted from the tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.
The AUD/USD pair was up 0.08% to trade at 0.7790. The Aussie remained bullish despite disappointing job data that the economy added only 4,900 jobs, far under the expected 20,300. Its unemployment rate remained at 5.5% in March, same as February.
In China, The People's Bank of China set the fix rate of yuan against the dollar at 6.2832 versus the previous day's 6.2817. The USD/CNY pair eased 0.16% to trade at 2642.