Investing.com - The Aussie gained in early Asia on Friday while the yen was nearly flat with retail sales due froom Sydney and wage data from Tokyo.
AUD//USD traded at 0.7019, up 0.17%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 117.65, down 0.01%.
In Australia, the AIG construction index came in at 46.8 for December, below the previous month's level of 50.7. A drop below 50 signals contraction.
Ahead, Australia reports retail sales for November, while Japan updates average cash earnings and overtime pay.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.03% to 98.32.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, after data showed that U.S. jobless claims fell less than expected last week and as fears over the outlook for China’s economy continued to support demand for the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 1 decreased by 10,000 to 277,000 from the previous week’s total of 287,000, which was the highest since mid-July. Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 12,000 to 275,000 last week.
The greenback had slightly weakened after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed that some officials expressed concerns that inflation could remain at stubbornly low levels, even as they decided to hike interest rates.
Meanwhile, demand for the safe-haven yen remained supported after the People's Bank of China set its official yuan midpoint rate lower compared with Wednesday's fix.
It was the largest daily drop in the midpoint rate since last August, when an unexpected almost 2% devaluation of the currency sparked a broad based selloff in markets.