Investing.com - The Aussie ticked up on Wednesday in Asia on better-than-expected trade data and expected retail sales.
AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7188, up 0.04%, after the data, while USD/JPY trade at 121.13, down 0.06%.
In Australia, the October AIG Services Index fell 3.3 points to 48.9. As well, retail sales gained 0.4% in September, matching month-on-month expectations, while the trade balance came in at a deficit of A$2.317 billion, narrower than the A$3.0 billion seen.
In China, the Ciaxin services PMI for October rose to 52.0, besting an expected 50.8.
Earlier, in New Zealand, employment fell 0.4% in the third quarter, below the 0.4% gain seen and labor costs rose 0.4%, les than the 0.5% gain expected with the unemployment rate up to 6.0% from 5.9%.
NZD/USD traded at 0.6643, down 0.32%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.01% at 97.26.
Overnight, the dollar held gains against the other major currencies on Tuesday, despite the release of downbeat U.S. factory orders as investors began to focus on this week's nonfarm payrolls report.
The U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders dropped 1.0% in September, worse than forecasts for a fall of 0.9%. Factory orders decreased 2.1% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 1.7%.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for indications on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The Federal Reserve left rates on hold last week but indicated that it could still raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its December meeting.