Investing.com - The dollar moved higher against the yen on Wednesday as tensions over the crisis in Ukraine eased, but investors remained cautious amid ongoing concerns over geopolitical risk.
USD/JPY rose to session highs of 102.43 and was last up 0.19% to 102.40, moving off the previous session’s lows of 101.39.
The threat of war between Russia and Ukraine eased after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a military deployment in Ukraine is not needed now. Russia’s defense minister also ordered troops engaged in military exercises close to Ukraine’s borders to return to their bases.
Market sentiment remained fragile, with Russian forces still maintaining a military presence in Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Investors were beginning to turn their attention to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report and Thursday’s European Central Bank policy meeting.
The euro pushed higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY rising 0.16% to 140.68 and was little changed against the dollar, with EUR/USD trading at 1.3741.
In the euro zone, data on Wednesday confirmed that the region’s services purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.6 in February, from a final reading of 51.6 in January and higher than the flash estimate of 51.7.
The rate of growth in Italy’s service sector rose to an almost three year high last month.
The upbeat data dampened expectations that the ECB would tighten monetary policy at its upcoming meeting on Thursday.
Elsewhere, the dollar was almost unchanged against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF dipping 0.02% to 0.8869.
GBP/USD was up 0.14% to 1.6687, ahead of U.K. data on service sector activity due out later in the session.
The Australian dollar moved higher, with AUD/USD rising 0.18% to trade at 0.8967. Australia’s dollar was boosted after data on Wednesday showed that the economy grew 0.8% in the fourth quarter, ahead of expectations for a 0.7% increase, after a 0.6% expansion in the three months to September.
Meanwhile, NZD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.8400.
The U.S. dollar slipped lower against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD down 0.09% to 1.1080.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.03% to 80.15.