Forex - Japanese yen gains ahead of busy data day in Asia

Investing.com - The Japanese yen gained and the Australian dollar held steady ahead of busy data sets in Asia on Tuesday.

USD/JPY traded at 109.43, down 0.05%, while AUD/USD held at 0.8721, up 0.01%.

In New Zealand, ANZ's September business confidence and activity outlook is due at 1300 (0000 GMT). The last survey showed a big fall in confidence, down 16 points
and a total fall of 46 points since the peak in February.

In Japan are August unemployment rate, household spending and job offers to seekers ratio all due at 0830 Tokyo time (2330 GMT).

The forecast for the unemployment rate is 3.8%, unchanged from July, while that for household spending is down 3.8% on year in real terms, a fifth consecutive year-on-year drop.

Later, at 0850 (2350 GMT), there's August preliminary industrial output and retail sales data. The forecast for industrial output is a fall of 0.2% on month, while for retail sales, it is a gain of 0.5% on year, a second straight year-on-year rise.

Then at 1030 (0130 GMT), August preliminary average cash earnings are then due followed by August housing starts at 1400 (0500 GMT), seen down 14.2%

In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia releases private sector credit numbers at 1130 Sydney time (0130 GMT) with a forecast for a gain of 0.4% month-on-month.

In China, HSBC/Markit is due to release the final reading of their September PMI at 0945 local (0145 GMT). The flash reading, released last week, showed a surprise uptick to 50.5 from August's final 50.2, helping lift sentiment in a market which had been braced for a sub-50 reading.

Markets in China will be closed from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 for the week-long National Day holidays.

Overnight, the dollar traded mixed against most major currencies as investors digested a mixed bag of U.S. data.

The National Association of Realtors reported earlier that its pending home sales index fell 1.0% to 104.7 in August from 105.8 in July. Economists had expected the index to tick down 0.1% last month.

Separately, the Commerce Department said that U.S. personal spending rose 0.5% in August, beating expectations for an increase of 0.4%, after a 0.1% dip in July.

The report also showed that personal income, reflecting income from wages, investment, and government aid, rose 0.3%, up from 0.2% in July, broadly in line with forecasts.

On Friday, the dollar advanced after the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 4.6% in the second quarter, in line with the consensus forecast.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.01% at 85.76.

On Tuesday, the U.S. is to publish data on business activity in the Chicago region and a report on consumer confidence.