Forex - Aussie weaker ahead of jobs data, yen down as market eyes Fed

Investing.com - The yen traded weaker along with the Australian dollar in early trade on Thursday with the focus on jobs data in Australia.

USD/JPY traded at 108.20, up 0.12%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.8830, down 0.14%.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics plans to revise its July and August jobs numbers, making the announcement ahead of Thursday's September labor force data due at 1130 Sydney time (0030 GMT).

Revised estimates have resulted in forecast for number of employed changing to a gain of 20,000 from a drop of 30,000 based on original forecast, the unemployment rate holding at 6.1% and the participation rate falling to 64.8% from 65.2%.

Still in Sydney, Reserve Bank of Australia Stability Head Luci Ellis is due to speak at a Capital Market Dysfunctionality conference at 1255 (0155 GMT).

In Japan, come August machinery orders and the Ministry of Finance's weekly international transactions in securities data at 0850 Tokyo time (2350 GMT). Private-sector core orders are forecast a gain of 0.9% on month, which would be the third straight rise.

Later in the day, the ESP Forecast Survey of economists on GDP, CPI and Bank of Japan policy is due at 1500 (0600 GMT).

Overnight, the dollar, which has risen in the last 12 weeks, trimmed gains from earlier on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve's debate on its interest rate guidance heated up last month, with several officials showing concern about misleading investors and pushing for a more data-dependent approach, according to minutes from its last policy meeting.

But as the Fed grapples with how to communicate its view on hiking rates, the minutes also show concern about the rising dollar, slowing inflation, and economic turmoil in Europe and Asia, factors that support the U.S. central bank's current of keeping policy accommodation in place for the near future.

"The concern was raised that the reference to 'considerable time' in the current forward guidance could be misunderstood as a commitment rather than as data dependent," said the minutes of the Fed's Sept. 16-17 meeting, which were released on Wednesday.