Investing.com - The Australian dollar trended higher in early Asia on Thursday ahead of closely-watched jobs data.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7660, up 0.009%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 109.41, up 0.06%.
In Asia, Australia kicks off with MI inflation expectations followed by data on jobs with the employment change for March seen adding 20,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticking up to 5.9% from 5.8%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 94.81, up 0.84%.
Overnight, the dollar rose to one-week highs against the other major currencies on Wednesday, despite the release of disappointing U.S. economic reports, as the greenback continued to recover from sharp losses posted earlier in the week. The U.S. Census Bureau said that retail sales fell by 0.3% in March, disappointing expectations for an uptick of 0.1% and after a 0.1% fall the previous month.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose by 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.1% slip in February.
A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index fell by 0.1% in March, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2% and after a 0.2% decline the previous month. Year-on-year, producer prices slipped 0.1% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% uptick and following a flat reading in February.
The dollar rebounded earlier Wednesday from sharp losses posted since recent dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of the next interest rate increase.