Exports in September declined 20.4% in the dollar terms from a year ago and exports declined 3.7%, resulting in a trade surplus of $60.34 billion.
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The data dragged the Australian dollar from a two-month high, to trade 0.7% lower at US$0.7312.
“The yen firmed as the Nikkei softened today, especially because the dollar remained top heavy around the lower half of ¥120 in recent trade”, said Yuzo Sakai, manager of FX business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow.
On Tuesday afternoon, new economic data showed that China’s imports fell 20.4 per cent in the 12 months to September as the nation’s property sector stuttered, leading to a knock-on effect for the crucial construction industry.
The dollar rallied against emerging currencies in Asia Tuesday as Chinese trade data showing an import slump fuelled anxiety about slower growth of the region’s largest economy.
“The more markets rally, the greater the likelihood that the Fed considers again raising rates: that makes me cautious still about the Australian dollar’s underlying trend”, said Mansoor Mohi-uddin, a senior markets strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Singapore. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, which on Friday closed at its highest level in seven weeks, dropped 0.57% to 5,202.90 and India’s Bombay Stock Exchange was down 0.06% at 26,887.12. “There will be ups and downs, but not the kind of panic selling we saw earlier”, said David Dai, Shanghai-based investor director at Nanhai Fund Management Co.
The widely-tracked VIX index, a volatility gauge of investor nervousness, was at its lowest since late August, a sign that optimism was returning to the markets after a tumultuous summer in which major indexes lost more than a quarter of their value.
The yen benefited from a flight to safety as stocks fell, while the dollar languished at three-week lows against a basket of currencies as expectations faded that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
The euro rose to $1.1411, its highest in 3 1/2 weeks on Tuesday and last stood at $1.1380, with its Sept 18 high of $1.1460 seen as a possible target.
Reduced expectations of a Fed rate hike dented the dollar. The New Zealand dollar was also down 0.5 per cent at $0.6682.
The greenback USDJPY, -0.19% was at ¥119.84, compared with ¥120.00 late Monday in New York.
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It is also down from as high as $0.7382 Monday, though that was its strongest level since August. The Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit, big winners last week from broad relief rally in risk assets, both fell about 1.2 percent.
