Forex - Australian dollar, Japanese yen tread water ahead of data

Investing.com - The Australian dollar traded a tad weaker in early Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of a sentiment indicator published by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute and the Japanese yen showed mild strength against the dollar ahead of data sets on business performance.

AUD/USD traded at 0.8970, down 0.09%, an the USD/JPY held at 102.96, down 0.05%, in an otherwise light data dat in Asia outside of a rate decision by the Bank of Thailand at 1630 local time (0730 GMT)

The Westpac-MI March Consumer Sentiment indicator for March is due at 1030 (2330 GMT), the previous reading a drop of 3%, and January Housing Finance is due at 1130 (0030 GMT), with a decline of 0.5% month-on-month expected.

Later on, the Reserve Bank of Australia's Deputy Governor Phillip Lowe is due to give a speech in Sydney at 1800 local time (0700 GMT) and

In Japan, February CGPI is due at 0850 Tokyo (2350 GMT), with a gain of 0.2% expected month-on-month, as well as the Q1 business outlook survey, with a gain of 11.3 points expected for large manufacturers.

At 1400 Tokyo time (0500 GMT), the BOJ's monthly economic report is due as is the February Consumer Confidence Survey.

Overnight, the dollar moved flat to higher against most major currencies in a subdued session void of major U.S. indicators, as a few investors snapped up greenback positions on dovish comments from European and U.K. monetary authorities.

The euro dipped against the dollar after European Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio said markets missed parts of the monetary authority's message on forward guidance last week.

The ECB left monetary policy on hold at last Thursday’s meeting, and refrained from implementing any new measures to shore up growth, despite forecasting below target inflation for the next few years.

Constancio said earlier that slack still remains in the euro zone economy, though markets missed the message in the ECB's recent statement on monetary policy.

"The forward guidance was made more precise in relation to the existence of this slack. Unfortunately ... this was not picked up by the markets," he said.

He also said the central bank still had policy options available, including lower interest rates or quantitative easing, if necessary.

The pound slipped against the dollar after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said earlier he saw room for the monetary authority to leave rates on hold for longer.

Speaking before parliament’s Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday, Carney said the amount of spare capacity in the economy was probably slightly higher than 1.5% of gross domestic product, indicating that the economic recovery can continue without pushing up inflation.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 79.91.