Forex - Aussie nearly flat as Greece outweighs housing, consumer sets

The Australian dollar gave up most early gains and traded near flat in Asia on Wednesday on a mix of upbeat housing data and consumer sentiment but as investors focused on Greece, and China data ahead.

AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7772, up 0.02%, while USD/JPY traded at 119.66, up 0.19%. EUR/USD traded at 1.1320, flat.

Greece's Parliament approved the government's economic plan in a vote late Tuesday that sets up a showdown with country's international
creditors beginning this week in Brussels.

With 162 'yes' votes against 137 'nos' with one absentee lawmaker, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras earned approval for a plan that rolls back many of the austerity measures agreed by the former government of Antonis Samaras.

Japanese markets are closed for a public holiday. Elsewhere, another series of Chinese data releases are expected to generate interest today.

China's January new loans, money supply and total social financing data are due, but there is no fixed time.

New loans are expected to have nearly doubled in January to 1.35 trillion yuan while total social financing -- the PBOC's broadest public measure of funding activity in the financial system -- may have hit 2.1 trillion yuan, up from December's 1.69 trillion yuan.

Meanwhile in Australia, the Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment survey rose 8.0 points to 100.7, the first time above 100 since February 2014 and expected after an RBA cash rate cut last week which was passed in full to mortgage-holders by banks, and the fall in petrol prices.

Housing finance data showed a gain of 2.7% month-on-month in December, better than the 2.0% rise expected.

Overnight, the dollar held gains against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as concerns over a potential Greek exit from the euro zone continued to dominate market sentiment.

The euro has been under pressure since Tsipras said over the weekend that he will deliver on pre-election pledges to roll back austerity measures and rejected an international bailout extension.

Tsipras said he is seeking a new agreement to cover Greece’s funding needs until June.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted flat at 94.86.

Also Tuesday, official data showed that China’s consumer price index rose by an annualized 0.8% in January. It was the weakest reading since November 2009, adding to pressure on Beijing to step up measures to bolster growth in the world’s second-largest economy.