Forex - Aussie gains in early Asia ahead of housing data

Investing.com - The Australian dollar gained on Monday in early Asia in a generally light data day in the region.

AUD/USD traded at 0.8211, up 0.11%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 118.41, down 0.05%. EUR/USD traded at 1.1854, up 0.11%.

In Australia data on home loans is due at 1130 local time 0030 GMT, with a gain of 2.0% expected for December month-on-month.

Last week, the dollar fell against a basket of other major currencies on Friday after weak wage growth in the latest U.S. jobs report saw investors push back expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department reported that the U.S.economy added 252,000 jobs in December more than the 240,000 forecast by economists. The unemployment rate ticked down to a six-and-a-half year low 5.6% from 5.8% in November.Economists had forecast a decline to 5.7%.

But the report showed that average earnings fell by 0.2% in December, missing expectations for a 0.2% increase and were up by only 1.7% from a year earlier.

The drop in average earnings prompted investors to take profits in the dollar, as markets pushed back expectations for the first hike in U.S. interest rates to late-2015 from mid-2015 before the report.

In the euro zone, data on Friday showing that industrial output fell in both Germany and France in November, while German exports also fell, fuelling speculation that the European Central Bank will embark on full blown quantitative easing as soon as its next meeting on Jan. 22.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, ended down 0.40% to 92.18 on Friday.

In the week ahead, markets will be looking ahead to Wednesday’s report on U.S. retail sales, as well as Friday’s reports on consumer sentiment and factory output. The euro zone is to release revised data on consumer inflation

and China is to release what will be closely watched trade data.

On Monday, the Bank of Canada is to publish its quarterly business outlook survey. In the U.S., Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart is to speak.