On Wednesday, the Australian dollar held profits in Asia, as traders noted a positive consumer sentiment index, while the Japanese yen weakened on machinery orders data as traders looked ahead to the publication of the minutes from the Fed’s September gathering later in the day.
The currency pair AUD/USD was worth 0.7559,ascending 0.25%, while USD/JPY traded at 103.59, climbing 0.09%. Then, GBP/USD leapt 1.13%, trading at 1.2261, continuing a pattern of steep moves in Asia observed recently as Brexit worries over the details of a break with the EU dominate market sentiment.
In Japan August’s core machinery orders leapt 11.6%, quite above the 6.5% revenue expected year-on-year. However, the month-on-month core machinery order figure descended 2.2%, less than the 5.5% dip expected, though the first such sag for three months.
Japan’s Cabinet Office repeated an assessment that a pickup had been seen in machinery orders. It also stressed that while August machinery orders descended, the dip didn’t appear to be large and didn’t display a change in trend as the orders soared for the second consecutive month.
