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Data out on Thursday showed that New Zealand's consumer price inflation was lower than expectations in the first quarter, though it remained near historic highs. Meanwhile, in Asia, Japan's elevated inflation figures kept alive market expectations that the BOJ could phase out its massive stimulus programme later this year, with all eyes now on next week's BOJ policy meeting, the first to be chaired by new central bank Governor Kazuo Ueda.

The dollar and sterling found support on Wednesday after a surprise rebound in business activity in the United States and the UK raised the likelihood that their respective central banks would have further to go in raising interest rates. Elsewhere, the euro attempted to recoup its losses from the previous session, even as the euro zone's flash composite PMI climbed to a nine-month high of 52.3 in February, supported by surprisingly strong services growth.

But factories still cut jobs by the most since October 2020, as orders fell from both domestic customers and clients in China, the United States, mainland Europe and Ireland. "The main driver of lost export contracts was weak global economic conditions, while there was also mention of Brexit-related issues, such as shipping delays and higher costs, leading some EU clients to source products elsewhere," survey compiler S&P Global said.