Forex - Yen gains after machine orders data, U.S. Lew in region

Investing.com - The yen gained against the dollar, reversing earlier weakness in Asian trade on Wednesday, despite core machinery orders down a surprise 2.1% on month in September in a sharp turnaround from strong growth the previous month.USD/JPY reached 99.63, down 0.01%, after the data, trading in a range of 99.59 - 99.68. The country reported machinery orders fell 2.1% in September (-1.4% forecast) and the October corporate goods price index dropped 0.1% (-0.2% forecast).Machinery orders are a leading indicator of corporate capital investment and assessed for pricing intentions as well.The Australian dollar was largely steady and the dollar held stable against most major currencies as U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew arrived in the region for a series of leadership meetings in Singapore and Malaysia on Wednesday as well as Beijing later in the week.AUD/USD traded at 0.9300, down 0.01%, giving up initial gains after a November survey by Westpac-Melbourne Institute showed its consumer sentiment index rose 1.9% to 110.3, nearing a peak earlier this year as house prices in Sydney and the state of New South Wales and in Western Australia rose smartly.The survey comes on the heels of disappointing October business confidence and conditions in a survey by National Australia Bank released Tuesday. Both surveys are being closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia.Up ahead for Australia at 1130 local time (0030 GMT) is the third quarter wage-price index with a forecast for a gain of 0.7% (Q/Q). The dollar enjoyed support overnight amid ongoing expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases either in December or in early 2014.