Forex - Aussie down on weak housing data, consumer sentiment

Investing.com - Investing.com - The Aussie fell further on disappointing domestic data on housing in Asia on Wednesday with investors looking ahead to the ECB meeting later this week.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7422, down 0.19%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 112.61, down 0.01%.
In Australia, the Westpac consumer sentiment gauge fell 2.2%, a sharp drop from a 4.2% gain previously. Also in Australia home loans for January dropped 3.9%, with a 2.3% drop seen month-on-month and housing finance eased 1.6% and which last gained 0.6%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.31% at 97.46.
Overnight, the dollar fell to fresh two-week lows against the other major currencies on Tuesday, amid lower expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike and as downbeat Chinese trade data continued to weigh on sentiment.The dollar weakened after Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard dampened expectations for a short term rate hike, saying that while global financial markets have steadied in recent weeks, slowing growth in China and weak global demand still pose risks to the economy.
The safe-haven yen was boosted after official data earlier showed that China's exports tumbled 25.4% from a year earlier to $126.1 billion in February. Economists had expected a decline of 12.5%.
Imports fell 13.8% year-on-year, slowing from January's 18.8% tumble. The steep fall in exports was due in part to the Chinese New Year, which fell earlier in February this year, but still highlighted concerns over slowing global demand.
Also Tuesday, data showed that Japan's economy contracted 1.1% in the last quarter of 2015, less than the initial estimate of a 1.4% contraction.
The euro remained under pressure amid heightened expectations for more easing from the European Central Bank at the conclusion of Thursday's policy meeting.