Investing.com - The yen weakened on Friday in Asia after mixed data on the current account and wages with markets looking ahead to U.S. nonfarm payrolls for direction on the dollar.
USD/JPY changed hands at 100.89, up 0.11%, while AUD/USD rose 0.24% to 0.7502. GBP/USD rebounded in Asia, up 0.26% to 1.2940.
In Japan, the adjusted current account for May came in at a surplus of ¥1.41 trillion, narrower than the surplus seen of ¥1.52 trillion, while the unadjusted current account surplus figure came in at ¥1.809 trillion, wider than the ¥1.705 trillion surplus expected. As well, bank lending for June rose 32.0%, below the gain of 2.2% seen in May.
Average cash earnings for May in Japan fell 0.2%, missing the 0.5% gain seen year-on-year, and compared to flat the previous month.
Despite the gains for the Aussie, investors remained cautious after Standard and Poor's downgraded the outlook on Australia's AAA credit rating from stable to negative earlier Thursday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.06% to 96.27.
Overnight, the dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of upbeat U.S. employment data as investors turned their attention to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 2 decreased by 16,000 to 254,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 270,000. Analysts had expected jobless
claims to rise by 2,000 to 270,000 last week.
The report came after U.S. Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose 172,000 last month, above forecasts for an increase of 159,000. The economy created 168,000 jobs in May, whose figure was upwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 173,000.
But the greenback’s gains were capped after the minutes of the Fed’s June policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers decided to keep interest rate hikes on hold as they assessed the Brexit impact.
Investors were now looking ahead to the Bank of England’s policy meeting next week, after BoE Governor Mark Carney signaled last week that more stimulus may be needed over the summer, sparking expectations for an upcoming rate cut.
The minutes of the European Central Bank’s last policy meeting released on Thursday showed that the Brexit vote could have significant negative repercussions for euro zone growth.
Policy makers also reiterated that the bank was ready to boost its stimulus program again if inflation remained below the near-2% target.
Earlier Thursday, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank was ready to expand monetary stimulus further if needed to achieve its 2% inflation target and affirmed his confidence over Japan's recovery prospects, making no mention of the current Brexit turmoil.