Forex - Australia dollar weaker in early Asia with China trade data eyed

Investing.com - The Australian dollar held slightly weaker on Monday in Asia as investors looked ahead to trade data out of China, Australia's top trading partner.

AUD/USD traded at 0.7676, down 0.08%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 120.26, up 0.05%. EUR/USD traded at 1.0599, down 0.04%.

Japan is to release data on core machinery orders expected to show a gain of 3.7% year-on-year for February, while Japan’s central bank is to publish the minutes of its latest policy meeting.

Then, China is to release data on the trade balance with exports seen up 12.0% year-on-year in March, imports down 11.7% and a trade balance of a $45.35 billion surplus.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted at 99.63 in the Asian morning.

Last week, the euro fell against the broadly stronger dollar on Friday as the diverging monetary policy stance of the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve continued to pressure the single currency.

Demand for the dollar was underpinned by expectations for higher interest rates, as investors regained confidence that the U.S. economy would continue to recover after recent economic reports pointed to a slowdown at the start of the year.

The greenback received a boost earlier in the week after comments by the presidents of the New York and Richmond Federal Reserve banks made the case for the Fed to begin policy tightening as early as the summer.

Some investors had pushed back the timing of a rate hike until late 2015 after a surprisingly weak U.S. employment report for March.

In the week ahead, Wednesday’s monetary policy announcement and press conference by the ECB will be closely watched. A central bank meeting in Canada will also be in focus. Investors will also be looking ahead to Friday’s reports on U.S. inflation and consumer sentiment.