Forex - Dollar mixed, but risk appetite seen waning

The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major rivals during Friday’s Asian session, but risk appetite appeared to be scant as traders are pensive after some central bank commentary Thursday and ahead of Chinese data releases later today. 

In Asian trading Friday, EUR/USD jumped 0.03% to 1.3404, reversing losses seen earlier in the session. On Thursday, the dollar rallied following comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Draghi said the ECB is keeping a watchful eye on the euro’s recent strength for possible signs of euro zone inflation. 

GBP/USD rose 0.05% to 1.5720 after the Bank of England announced no significant monetary policy changes on Thursday. BoE did acknowledge the stage is set for the U.K. economy to recover, but the central added that the recovery will be slow. 

USD/JPY fell 0.09% to 93.57 after Japan reported a December current account deficit of JPY264.1 billion, well above the consensus estimate of JPY144.2 billion. That pared the full-year current account surplus to JPY4.7 trillion. A weaker yen, which is believed to be boosting Japanese exports, is seen as helping the current account situation a bit. 

Meanwhile, USD/CHF fell 0.04% to 91.80 while USD/CAD gained 0.03% to 99.82 even though oil prices were steady in Asian trade. 

Elsewhere, AUD/USD added 0.05% to 1.0289 after the Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its 2013 GDP growth outlook to 2.5% from its November forecast of 2.75%. RBA also trimmed its inflation estimate to 3% from 3.25%. The Aussie dollar should be in focus later today when China, one of Australia’s largest trading partners, reports inflation and trade data. 

RBA also said the Aussie dollar’s strength impact on inflation may be longer-lasting than expected. NZD/USD jumped 0.23% to 0.8353. 

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.07% to 80.23. In Thursday’s U.S. economic news, first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 2,250 to 350,500, good for the lowest reading since March 2008. 

A separate report showed that non-farm business sector labor productivity fell by a seasonally adjusted 2% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.3%. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer.