Investing.com - The Kiwi and yen tread water on Friday in early Asia with consumer prices out of Japan in focus and New Zealand's trade surplus slightly shy of expectations.
NZD/USD traded at 0.6724, up 0.04%. USD/JPY changed hands at 112.96, down 0.01%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7232, down 0.06%.
In New Zealand, the trade balance for January came in at a surplus of NZ$3.580 billion year-on-year, below the NZ$3.840 billion figure seen.
Ahead in Tokyo, Japan reports national CPI for January, seen flat year-on-year and national core CPI, expected down 0.2%.
As well, China reports house prices data for January with a 1.6% gain last reported year-on-year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 97.44.
Overnight, the dollar edged lower against the other major currencies in cautious trade on Thursday, after U.S. data painted a mixed picture of the economy and as investors continued to focus on the oil market.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 20 increased by 10,000 to 272,000 from the previous week’s total of 262,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 8,000 to 270,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders rose by 4.9% last month, blowing past forecasts for a rise of 2.5%.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, increased by 1.8% in January, easily surpassing expectations for a gain of 0.2%.
Meanwhile, oil prices held above $31 a barrel but concerns over a supply glut persisted after weekly stockpile data released on Wednesday showed that U.S. oil inventories rose to an all-time high last week.