Forex - Aussie weaker as China set to report Q1 GDP data

Investing.com - The Australian dollar held weaker ahead of a flurry of data theat includes GDP and retail sales from top trading partner China that comes as signs of a slowdown in the Middle Kingdom grow following poor trade data earlier in the week.

AUD/USD traded at 0.7620, down 0.10%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 119.41, flat. EUR/USD was quoted at 1.0652, down 0.04%.

At 1000 Beijing (0200 GMT), China's first quarter GDP, industrial output, retail sales and fixed assets investment data are all due with expectations the economy grew 7% year-on-year in the first quarter, and industrial output rose 6.9%, fixed investment up 13.8% and retail sales by 10.9%.

Beforehand, Australia reports April Westpac-MI consumer sentiment at 1030 Sydney (0030 GMT). The April reading could show a further dip from the 1.2% fall in March.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted at 98.95, down 0.06% in early Asia.

Overnight, the dollar pushed lower against a basket of other major currencies on Tuesday, as the release of disappointing U.S. data sparked fresh concerns over the strength of the economy, fuelling uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales rose 0.9% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Retail sales fell by 0.5% in February, whose figure was revised from a previously reported fall of 0.6%.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said that producer prices increased 0.2% last month, in line with forecasts and after falling 0.5% in February.

Year-over-year, the producer price index declined 0.8% in March, meeting expectations and following a drop of 0.6% in the preceding month.

The euro was boosted after the International Monetary Fund raised its growth forecast for the euro zone in 2015 to 1.5%, up from 1.2% previously. The fund believes that the weaker euro and the fall in oil prices will bolster growth.

The IMF left its forecast for global growth this year unchanged at 3.5%, but warned that the recovery is “moderate and uneven”.

Tension between Greece and its euro zone creditors continued to remain high on Tuesday. Hours after the Financial Times reported that Greece is formulating a plan on how to respond from a possible default on its debt, officials from Athens denied the report and shot down speculation of a new election that would effectively unseat the Syriza government.

The comments came ahead of next Monday's deadline from the euro zone working group for a list of revised Greek reform measures it deems necessary to unlock critical aid. Yields on the 2-Year Greek bonds spiked more than 20% amid the uncertainty.