Investing.com - The Australian dollar came off early lows into positive territory and the dollar held onto overnight gains against the yen in early Asian trade Wednesday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew arrived in the region for a series of leadership meetings in Singapore and Malaysia as well as Beijing later in the week.
USD/JPY reached 99.65, up 0.01%, in a range of 99.59 - 99.66,
AUD/USD traded at 0.9304, up 0.03, after a November survey by Westpac-Melbourne Institute showed its consumer sentiment index rose 1.9% to 110.3, nearing a peak earlier this year as house prices in Sydney and the state of New South Wales and in Western Australia rose smartly.
The survey comes on the heels of disappointing October business confidence and conditions in a survey by National Australia Bank released Tuesday. Both surveys are being closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Elsewhere on the data front in Japan, third quarter machinery orders (-1.8% forecast) and October corporate goods price index (-0.2% M/M) due at 0850 local time (2350 GMT) take center stage.
The dollar enjoyed support overnight amid ongoing expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases either in December or in early 2014.
USD/JPY reached 99.65, up 0.01%, in a range of 99.59 - 99.66,
AUD/USD traded at 0.9304, up 0.03, after a November survey by Westpac-Melbourne Institute showed its consumer sentiment index rose 1.9% to 110.3, nearing a peak earlier this year as house prices in Sydney and the state of New South Wales and in Western Australia rose smartly.
The survey comes on the heels of disappointing October business confidence and conditions in a survey by National Australia Bank released Tuesday. Both surveys are being closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Elsewhere on the data front in Japan, third quarter machinery orders (-1.8% forecast) and October corporate goods price index (-0.2% M/M) due at 0850 local time (2350 GMT) take center stage.
The dollar enjoyed support overnight amid ongoing expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases either in December or in early 2014.