Investing.com - The yen gained on Tuesday in Asia as data on wages suggested improvement and investors awaited more clarity on the direction of rates in the U.S. in the release of minutes this week.
USD/JPY changed hands at 111.12, down 0.20%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7594, down 0.16%.
Japan reported average cash earnings jumped 0.9% in February year-on-year, well above the 0.2% gain seen, while overtime pay rose 0.40%, an improvement on a 1.3% year-on-year drop.
Ahead in Australia, the trade balance for February is seen at a deficit of A$2.6 billion, narrower than the gap of A$2.937 billion the previous month.
Earlier in New Zealand, the NZIER business confidence index came in at 2% for the first quarter, down from 15% in the previous quarter.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 94.56, down 0.03%.
Overnight, the dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Monday, after data showed that U.S. factory orders fell in February and as comments from a Federal Reserve official sparked fresh speculation over additional policy tightening this year.
The U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders declined by 1.7% last month, in line with expectations. Factory orders rose 1.2% in January, revised from the initial read of a 1.6% increase.
Meanwhile, Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren said that he felt the market was mistaken in its expectations for only zero to one rate hikes this year.
"I personally expect that a stronger economy, at essentially full employment and with gradually rising inflation, will lead to more tightening than is currently priced into the futures market expectations for the next two years," Rosengren said.