Investing.com - The yen got a slight initial boost on Wednesday as data showed better than expected machinery orders and in the corporate goods price index.
USD/JPY changed hands at 124.35, flat from slightly weaker, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7691, up 0.01%. EUR/USD rose 0.12% to 1.1294.
In Japan core machinery orders for April jumped 3.8%, well above the 2.0% month-on-month drop expected, and the corporate goods price index, or CPGI, for May rose 0.3%, better than the 0.2% increase month-on-month seen. The government said it has upgraded its views on machine order prospects after the latest data.
Later Bank of Japan board member Takehiro Sato speaks to business leaders in central Japan.
Also up ahead, the Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment survey is due, with the previous for May showing a 6.4% rise, and Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens has a business group speech in Brisbane.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.01% at 95.16.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies in subdued trade on Tuesday, as no major U.S. economic reports were expected throughout the day and investors continued to focus on Greek debt talks.
EUR/USD dropped 0.46% to 1.1240 on Tuesday as investors also remained cautious after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Monday that "there isn’t much time left" to reach an agreement on a cash-for-reforms deal needed to unlock more financial aid before Greece runs out of money.
Athens delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, saying it would repay the money along with other payments due this month by the end of June.
Athens submitted new proposals for economic reforms to the European Commission on Tuesday, fuelling hopes for a breakthrough that could unlock new funding before the country runs out of money.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the two sides could reach a deal if Greece’s creditors dropped demands to cut pensions and other proposals which would push Greece deeper into recession.
Also Tuesday, data confirmed that the euro area economy grew 0.4% in the first three months of the year. But the Greek economy contracted 0.2% in the quarter, sending the country back into a recession.