Investing.com - The euro held gains against the yen on Tuesday, after revised data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a slower rate than initially estimated in the third quarter.
EUR/JPY hit 104.34 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 104.05, still up 0.36%.
The pair was likely to find support at 102.72, the low of October 10 and resistance at 105.55, the high of November 15.
The Commerce Department’s second estimate of third quarter gross domestic product showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2%, down from a previous estimate of 2.5%.
The report said the revision was due in large part to a USD8.5 billion decline in business inventories, which removed 1.55% from GDP growth. Inventories had previously been estimated to have increased by USD5.4 billion.
The euro had found support earlier after ratings agencies indicated that the failure of a U.S. congressional committee to agree on a package of measures to slash the country’s deficit was unlikely to result in immediate downgrades on the U.S. credit rating.
But investors remained jittery after Spain’s Treasury sold EUR2.98 billion in three and six-month bonds in an auction earlier. Yields for the six-month bills rose to 5.2% from 3.3% at a similar auction in October.
The yen fell to a five-day low against the greenback earlier before rapidly paring losses, after remarks by Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi were interpreted by some traders as hinting at more intervention to weaken the yen.
The yen remained lower against the U.S. dollar with USD/JPY rising 0.28%, to hit 77.10.
Later in the day, the U.S. Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its November policy meeting, later Tuesday.
EUR/JPY hit 104.34 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 104.05, still up 0.36%.
The pair was likely to find support at 102.72, the low of October 10 and resistance at 105.55, the high of November 15.
The Commerce Department’s second estimate of third quarter gross domestic product showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2%, down from a previous estimate of 2.5%.
The report said the revision was due in large part to a USD8.5 billion decline in business inventories, which removed 1.55% from GDP growth. Inventories had previously been estimated to have increased by USD5.4 billion.
The euro had found support earlier after ratings agencies indicated that the failure of a U.S. congressional committee to agree on a package of measures to slash the country’s deficit was unlikely to result in immediate downgrades on the U.S. credit rating.
But investors remained jittery after Spain’s Treasury sold EUR2.98 billion in three and six-month bonds in an auction earlier. Yields for the six-month bills rose to 5.2% from 3.3% at a similar auction in October.
The yen fell to a five-day low against the greenback earlier before rapidly paring losses, after remarks by Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi were interpreted by some traders as hinting at more intervention to weaken the yen.
The yen remained lower against the U.S. dollar with USD/JPY rising 0.28%, to hit 77.10.
Later in the day, the U.S. Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its November policy meeting, later Tuesday.