Investing.com - The yen was a tad stronger in Asia on Wednesday despite trade data that showed weak exports.
USD/JPY traded at 119.82, down 0.03%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7266, up 0.09%.
Data from Japan showed imports fell 11.1% in September year-on-year, a bit better than the 11.7% drop seen, while exports rose 0.6%, well below the 3.4% gain expected. The trade balance for September came in at a deficit of ¥115 billion, compared to a surplus of ¥84 billion expected.
In Australia, the Westpac-MI leading index rose 0.12 points to 97.60, in line with the Reserve Bank's forecast for growth to stay below trend. However, growth signaled by this index makes Westpac's forecast for 2016 look vulnerable, it said.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.03% at 94.87.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the release of mixed U.S. data fuelled further uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. rate hike.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts rose 6.5% to 1.206 million units last month from August’s total of 1.132 million units. Analysts had expected a figure of 1.140 million.
The report also showed that the number of building permits issued dropped by 5.0% to 1.103 million units from August’s total of 1.170 million. Analysts expected building permits to fall by 0.9% to 1.164 million units in July.
Meanwhile, the single currency strengthened as investors looked ahead to a European Central Bank meeting later in the week amid speculation that it could flag plans to enlarge its stimulus program.