Investing.com - The Australian dollar rebounded on solid China GDP figures, shrugging off an earlier downbeat survey on consumer confidence, while the bank of Japan held steady as expected.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7466, up 0.12%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 123.45, up 0.05%. EUR/USD changed hands at 1.1002, down 0.06%.
China reported 7.0% year-on-year GDP growth in the second quarter, better than the 6.9% pace seen, while industrial output jumped 6.8% in June year-on-year, compared to a gain of 6.0% expected. Retail sales jumped 10.6%, better than the 10.2% increase seen in June.
Earlier, Australia's Westpac-MI Consumer Confidence survey for July fell 3.2% to 92.2, the lowest since December last year.
"Despite current market expectations we would also put a limited chance of a move in November," Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said. "In fact we are comfortable to retain the view that rates
will remain on hold for the remainder of this year and throughout 2016."
The Bank of Japan voted 8 to 1 as expected on Wednesday to keep monetary policy steady as board member Takahide Kiuchi once again dissented and called for a cut in outright government bond buying by nearly half.
The board said exports and output were picking up even as consumer prices are nearly flat year-on-year. Kiuchi has called for trimming asset purchased by the BoJ to ¥45 trillion annually from ¥80 trillion set in October last year.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's news conference is at 1530 (0630 GMT).
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was flat at 96.81.
Overnight, the dollar regained ground against the other major currencies on Tuesday after initially falling to session lows when data showed that U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell last month.
The dollar turned lower after the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.3% in June, compared to expectations for a 0.2% increase.
May’s retail sales were revised down to 1.0% from 1.2% previously.
The data added to concerns over the outlook for second quarter growth.
The dollar had weakened slightly earlier in the session amid concerns that testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to Congress on Wednesday could push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.
The euro remained under pressure as investors waited to see if the Greek parliament would support harsh austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors in exchange for a deal to avoid financial collapse.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was meeting with MP's on Tuesday, but faced an uphill battle to win support for a third bailout deal offered by the country’s creditors.
Four pieces of legislation must be passed by the end of the day on Wednesday, including pension and sales tax reforms.
Meanwhile, talks on a bridging loan for Athens, to cover repayments to the European Central Bank in July and August, were continuing in Brussels.