The dollar was on the front foot in Asia on Friday, retaining overnight gains against peers after strong U.S. economic data and an ECB rate hike, with traders' attention warily turning to a data deluge from China.
U.S. retail sales received a boost from higher gasoline prices, increasing 0.6% in August versus an estimated 0.2% rise, while market participants reacted to the European Central Bank's 25-basis point hike.
"The data today will be super important," said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at the National Bank of Australia.
The offshore yuan inched further down against the dollar to 7.2918 ahead of the data.
"In that sense it means that any disappointment coming out of the data today, we'll likely see the CNY under pressure," with risks to the Aussie and the Kiwi as well, he said.
Persons:
Rodrigo Catril, we'll
Organizations:
Central, U.S, Mizuho Bank, National Bank of Australia, People's Bank of China's, Kiwi
Locations:
Asia, China . U.S, Thursday's, China