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The Australian dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session Friday and held steady thereafter, after the Reserve Bank of Australia said it would continue to keep its accommodative monetary policy some more time and as China's consumer price inflation slowed in April.

In its monetary policy statement, the RBA reiterated its commitment to hold interest rate unchanged for the foreseeable future.

The board's outlook on inflation suggests that there is still space capacity in the economy. The board's view is that the current accommodative monetary policy setting is likely to be appropriate for some time yet.

While the central bank raised its GDP forecast for 2014 to 3 percent from the 2.75 percent estimated earlier, it lowered its forecast for 2015 by quarter percent point to 2.25-3.25 percent.

"These minor revisions reflect the net effect of the rise in the exchange rate over recent months - which is expected, at the margin, to restrain exports and boost imports over the next two years - and a slightly stronger outlook for consumption and dwelling investment over the coming year," according to the statement.

Consumer prices in China were up 1.8 percent on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said.That was below expectations for 2.0 percent, and the April figure slowed dramatically from 2.4 percent in March.

Producer prices contracted 2.0 percent on year versus forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 2.3 percent fall in the previous month.

The Australian dollar dropped to a 1-week low of 1.0124 against the Canadian dollar in the early Asian session, down from yesterday's closing quote of 1.0154 and held steady thereafter.

Against the U.S dollar and the euro, the Australian dollar weakened to 0.9348 and 1.4799, down from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.9375 and 1.4763, respectively and held steady thereafter.

Against the NZ dollar and the yen, the Australian dollar declined to 1.0827 and 95.03, down from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0841and 95.30, respectively and held steady thereafter.

Looking ahead, Japan's leading index for March is due at 1:00 am ET.

German trade data for March is due at 2:00 am ET.

Canada jobs data for April and U.S. wholesale inventories for March are set for release in the New York session.