Investing.com - A busy day in Japan will see a slew of data and central bank guides on policy that will set the tone on Friday in Asia.
USD/JPY traded at 120.95, down 0.14%, in early trade, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7085, up 0.16%.
Investors are looking at the Bank of Japan one-day policy meeting on Friday as industrial output shows signs of life even as the central bank is expected to revise down growth and inflation forecasts in its semi-annual Outlook Report due the same day.
Expectations of further eased have ebbed and waned for another round of aggressive monetary easing to boost prices more than two years into a massive stimulus program of ¥80 trillion.
The meeting and review are part of a busy day that includes September household spending, seen up 0.3% month-on-month, national core CPI expected down 0.2% year-on-year, and unemployment, expected at 3.4%.
In Australia comes housing credit for September as well as private sector credit and producer prices.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.01% to 97.36.
Overnight, the dollar pushed lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of disappointing U.S. data dampened optimism over the strength of the economy.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index dropped 2.3% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Pending home sales in August fell by 1.4%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported drop of 1.4%.
The data came after the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the three months to September, missing expectations for growth of 1.6%. The U.S. economy grew 3.9% in the previous quarter.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 24 increased by 1,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s total of 259,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 263,000.
The dollar had strengthened broadly after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve statement said that officials might make a decision to raise interest rates at their December meeting.
The central bank kept rates on hold at its September meeting amid fears that a China-led slowdown in global growth could affect the U.S. economy.