Forex - Aussie gains slightly in Asia, eyes on upcoming Fed review

Category: Forex

The Aussie gained slightly in early Asia on Wednesday in a light data day with investors looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's latest review of interest rates expected to hold steady but offer fresh comment on the likely track.AUD/USD traded at 0.7461, up 0.04%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 113.10, down 0.04%. NZD/USD rose 0.15% to 0.6611.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.06% at 96.66.The MI leading index in Australia fell 0.2% from a 0.1% gain in the previous month.Earlier, the the fourth current account deficit in New Zealand came in at NZ$2.61 billion quarter-on-quarter and at NZ$7.71 billion year-on-year, narrower than expected in both cases.Overnight, the dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the release of downbeat U.S. data as investors returned their attention to the Federal Reserve’s policy statement on Wednesday.The U.S. Commerce Department earlier reported that retail sales fell 0.1% last month, better than expectations for a decline of 0.2%.Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, declined by 0.1% in February, compared to forecasts for a fall of 0.2%. 

A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index fell 0.2% last month, in line with the forecasts. Year-over-year, producer prices were flat, compared to expectations for a 0.1% increase.Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was also flat in February, below forecasts for a gain of 0.1%.At the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index improved to 0.6 this month from a reading of -16.6 in February. Analysts had expected the index to rise to -10.0 in March.The yen was boosted after the Bank of Japan made no change to monetary policy, in a widely anticipated decision, as it assesses the economic impact of its decision in January to deploy negative interest rates.The BoJ maintained its ¥80 trillion base money target and a 0.1% negative interest rate it applies to some reserves.But the bank also flagged weakness in exports and output due to slowing growth in emerging economies, indicating that more stimulus may be needed in the future