Investing.com - The dollar was steady against the yen in rangebound trade on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a six-year high in March and another report showed that new home sales fell less-than-expected in February.
USD/JPY was last up 0.05% to 102.30 and was trading in a range of 102.10 to 102.49.
The pair was likely to find support at 102.00 and resistance at 102.63, Monday’s high.
The Conference Board reported that its index of consumer confidence increased to 82.3 this month, the highest since January 2008, from 78.3 in February. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 78.6.
The report showed that consumers expect the economy to continue improving and believe it may gather momentum in the coming months.
Separately, the Commerce Department said new home sales fell by the most in five months in February, indicating continued weakness in the housing sector.
Sales of new homes fell by 3.3% in February to 440,000 units, the weakest level since last September. Market expectations had been for a decline of 4.9%.
January's sales were revised down to a 455,000-unit pace from the previously reported 468,000-unit rate.
Earlier Tuesday, a report on U.S. house prices showed that prices rose slightly less than expected in January.
Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose 13.2% in January from a year earlier, compared to forecasts for a 13.3% gain.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.31% to 1.3796, off session lows of 1.3776.
The single currency came under pressure on Tuesday after a senior European Central Bank official said the bank could use negative interest rates to counter the euro’s higher exchange rate.
ECB governing council member and Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said a negative deposit rate could be an appropriate way to address the impact of strong gains in the euro.
Meanwhile, a report on Tuesday showed that the German Ifo business confidence index fell to 110.7 in March from 111.3 in February. It was the first decline in five months.
The expectations component of the index weakened as concerns over the impact of the Crimea crisis weighed, but the current assessment component continued to improve, rising to the highest level since April 2012.