Investing.com - The Japanese yen was slightly weaker early in Asia on Friday and the Australian dollar a tad weaker as well with the focus on overnight dolalr movements.
A quiet data day is seen in Asia with China's July actual FDI data possible and, if released, would come at an expected 1000 local time (0200 GMT). Previous data showed FDI up 2.2% year-on-year at $14.42 billion.
USD/JPY traded at 102.48, up 0.02%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.9318, down 0.01%.
Overnight, the dollar trimmed earlier losses sustained against most major currencies after investors shrugged off disappointing weekly jobless claims numbers after digesting the data, determining the labor market continues to improve.
Dollar trims losses from soft U.S. jobless claims reportDollar trims losses as investors dismiss disappointing U.S.
The U.S. Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Aug. 9 increased by 21,000 to 311,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 290,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 295,000 last week.
The numbers softened the dollar by reminding investors the Federal Reserve won't rush to raise interest rates after it closes its monthly bond-buying program, which is seen taking place around October.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said monetary policy must address slackness in the labor market marked by soft wage growth and too many long-term unemployed and part-time workers.
Still, the dollar didn't plummet, as a longer term analysis of weekly jobless claims reports and other labor-market indicators point to an improving U.S. economy.
Soft euro area data helped offset the U.S. initial jobless claims numbers as well.
The euro zone’s gross domestic product was flat in the three months to June, according to Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office, missing market expectations for 0.1% growth. The euro zone’s economy grew 0.2% in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, the euro zone GDP expanded by 0.7%, in line with expectations after expanding at a rate of 0.9% in the first quarter.
Germany’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the three month to June, the first drop since 2012 and worse than forecasts for a contraction of 0.1%.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was flat at 81.64.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with reports on manufacturing activity in New York state and industrial output, as well as preliminary data on consumer sentiment.