Investing.com - The yen gained against the dollar in early Asia on Wednesday ahead of machinery orders data as EUR/USD inched up as Catalonia's president Carles Puigdemont fell short of declaring independence from Spain.
In Japan, core machinery order are due for August with a 1.1% gain expected on month and an 0.8% increase on year.
USD/JPY changed hands at 112.43, down 0.01%, while AUD/USD was flat at 0.7777. EUR/USD rose 0.02% to 1.1810.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted down 0.49% to 93.09.
Overnight, the dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday pressured by a surge in the euro following data pointing to underlying strength in the euro zone economy.
It was a quiet day for U.S. top tier economic data investor demand for safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc remained elevated amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty on the Korean Peninsula.
Also weighing on the greenback was a rally in the euro after bullish trade data raised expectations of European Central bank monetary policy tightening amid comments from an ECB official on Monday.
Germany, the Eurozone’s largest economy, revealed better-than-expected trade data as its trade balance expanded to 21.6 billion, beating economist expectations of 20 billion.
Sabine Lautenschlaeger, a member of the European Central Bank executive board, urged the ECB to roll back asset purchases in 2018.
Sterling, meanwhile, added to recent gains against the greenback rising on the back of manufacturing and industrial data that topped expectations.
Total production output in the industrial sector was 1.6% higher in August than a year before, against expectations of a 0.8% rise, while manufacturing output rose 2.8%, topping forecasts of a 1.9% increase.
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Forex - Yen Gains Slightly In Early Asia Ahead Of Machinery Orders, EUR/USD Up