PERTH: The Aussie and yen traded weaker on Monday in Asia with no major regional data and Tokyo shut for a holiday.
AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7230, down 0.12%, while USD/JPY traded at 122.90, up 0.06%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.08% to 99.73.
In the week ahead, U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day.
The euro zone is to release survey data on private sector activity on Monday, while both the U.S. and the U.K. are to publish revised data on third quarter growth later in the week.
On Monday, the euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports. The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales.
Last week, the euro fell sharply against the dollar on Friday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave the clearest signal yet that the bank may unveil fresh stimulus measures at its December meeting.
The ECB is ready to act quickly to boost inflation in the euro zone and can also change the level of its deposit rate to boost the impact of quantitative easing, Draghi said.
The comments came during a conference in Frankfurt and underlined the diverging monetary policy expectations between the Federal Reserve and the ECB.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that he Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month.
New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that there is a “strong case” for hiking rates at the central bank’s next meeting in December as long as economic data continues to remain solid. Higher U.S. interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
The greenback turned lower earlier in the week as investors booked profits after a strong rally, before pushing higher again on Friday as investors re-entered dollar positions.
