Forex - Aussie a tad weaker ahead of China price data, business survey

Investing.com - The Australian dollar was a tad weaker in early Asia on Tuesday ahead of price data in China and a business survey at home.

AUD/USD traded at 0.7799, down 0.04%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 118.63, down 0.01%.

China's January CPI and PPI data are due at 0930 Beijing time (0130 GMT). Economists are forecasting that consumer inflation dropped to 1.0% year-on-year last month from December's gain of 1.5%, representing the slowest pace of growth since November 2009. The National Bureau of Statistics is also expected to say that producer prices fell 3.8% in January,representing the steepest drop since October 2009.

In Australia, the NAB's business confidence and business conditions are due at 1130 Sydney time (0030 GMT). Expectation is for a fall in both conditions and confidence. Also at the same time is house price index for the fourth quarter published by the ABS which, based on other indexes, is likely to show a 1.8% quarter-on-quarter rise versus a 1.5% gain in the third quarter.

Overnight, the dollar edged lower against the other major currencies in quiet on Monday, but losses were expected to remain limited as Friday's strong U.S. jobs data continued to support the greenback.

The dollar remained supported after the Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, far more than the 234,000 forecast by economists. December’s figure was revised to 329,000 from a previously reported 252,000.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% last month from December’s 5.6% hourly earnings and the participation rate both saw increases in January.

The upbeat jobs report was seen as strong enough to indicate that the Fed will remain on track to start raising rates from near zero levels as early as June.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted flat at 94.70.