Investing.com - The dollar backed off session lows against the yen on Thursday after data showed that U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods fell less than expected in January.
USD/JPY was last down 0.29% to 102.07, recovering from session lows of 101.73, the weakest since February 20.
The pair was likely to find support at 101.55 and resistance at 102.43, the session high.
The dollar found support after the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders declined by a seasonally adjusted 1% last month, compared to expectations for a 1.5% drop.
Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, rose 1.1% in January, the largest increase since May, confounding forecasts for a 0.3% decline.
A separate report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more than expected.
The Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits rose by 14,000 to 348,000 from the previous week’s total of 334,000. Analysts had expected an increase of just 1,000.
Investors were looking ahead to testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the session, after recent series of disappointing U.S. economic reports raised doubts over whether the Fed would stick to the current pace of reductions to its stimulus program.
Ms. Yellen was expected to reiterate that the U.S. central bank would continue to roll back its asset purchase program, as long as the economy improves as expected.
Demand for the safe haven yen continued to be underpinned as political and military tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to curb risk appetite.
On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 150,000 Russian troops to begin military exercises in central and western Russia, near the border with Ukraine.
Political uncertainty in Ukraine sparked renewed concerns over the outlook for emerging markets, and pressured the Russian rouble to five year lows against the dollar. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s hryvnia fell to record lows after the central bank abandoned its policy of supporting the currency.
Elsewhere, the euro pulled back from two-week lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.10% to 1.3672, after falling to lows of 1.3643 earlier.