Investing.com - The Kiwi gained slightly after better-than-expected retail sales on Friday with the yen a tad stronger and the Aussie down slightly as investors looked ahead to data from China on asset investment, industrial output and retail sales.
USD/JPY was quoted at 101.88, down 0.08%, while AUD/USD was noted at 0.7699, down 0.03%.
In New Zealand, the Business NZ PMI fell to 55.8 for July, dipping from a previous reading of 57.7. As well, core retail sales for the second quarter jumped 2.6%, better than the quarter-on-quarter figures seen up 1.1%. Full retail sales also spiked, up 2.3%, compared to a 0.9% quarter-on-quarter gain seen and nn annual pace of 6.0%, outpacing the 4.9% expected from the same quarter a year ago.
NZD/USD traded at 0.7214, up 0.04% after of the figures, reversing an earlier weakness.
Later, China reports fixed-asset investment for July with a pace of 8.8% seen year-on-year and industrial production at 6.1% year-on-year as well as retail sales expected up 10.5% year-on-year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 95.90.
Overnight, the dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of a positive U.S. jobless claims report, as investors turned their attention to Friday’s U.S. data on retail sales and consumer sentiment.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 6 decreased by 1,000 to 266,000 from the previous week’s total of 267,000, which was revised from the initial read of 269,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 4,000 to 265,000 last week.
But market participants were now awaiting Friday’s U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment data for further indications on the strength of the economy after weak data published earlier in the week dampened expectations for a 2016 rate hike by the Federal Reserve.