Investing.com - The Aussie fell sharply on Friday in Asia as a flash manufacturing survey for China in August was weaker than expected.
The Caixin China Manufacturing PMI flash fell to 47.1, a 77-month low, from an expected 47.7 for August. The Nikkei Japan PMI Manufacturing survey eased to 51.9 in August fro the flash estimate, below the 52.1 level seen.
AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7297, down 0.53%, with Australia relying on China demand for many commodity exports, while USD/JPY traded at 123.30, down 0.10%.
The People's Bank of China fixed the yuan/dolalr parity at 6.3864 on Friday from 6.3915. It opened at 6.3904 from Thursday's close of 6.3890.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.05% to 95.72.
Overnight, the dollar slumped to session lows against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting gave no clear indication on the timing of an initial interest rate increase.
Wednesday’s minutes showed that Fed officials believe the economy is nearing the point where interest rates should move higher, but noted that the subdued inflation outlook and weakness in the global economy could still pose risks to the U.S. economic outlook.
Data on Thursday showed that the number of Americans who filed for unemployment assistance rose by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 277,000 last week, holding close to levels indicative of a strong labor market.
Separate reports showed that existing home sales rose to the highest level in eight years in July, while manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region grew at a faster than expected rate this month.