The Australian dollar is rising thanks to positive retail data. The New Zealand dollar is stable, while the rupee and the Chinese yuan are falling

The dollar stayed on the defensive Wednesday after dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sent U.S. bond yields lower, overshadowing a solid domestic jobs report.

The Australian dollar rose against the US dollar on Wednesday as national retail spending data surprised the rise, but gains were limited by the weakness of the Chinese yuan.

The New Zealand dollar remained stable at $0.6078, after ending the previous session with little change. It stayed close to its 200-day moving average of $0.6070 and a breakout of the resistance at 61 cents is considered necessary to improve its short-term outlook

The Indian rupee is expected to open slightly weaker or stable on Wednesday, as comments from the Federal Reserve chairman about rising inflation brought little relief to his Asian peers.

The Chinese yuan fell to its lowest level in seven months against the dollar on Wednesday, due to weak economic data and the central bank's slightly announced fall in the currency's trading range. At 04:10 GMT, the yuan was down about 0.03% at 7.2733 and had hit a low of 7.2736, the weakest end of its daily trading band. The yuan is down 2.4% against the US dollar this year as the Chinese economic recovery has been disappointing and record low bond yields have caused money to flee to higher-yielding currencies