Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to fresh one-month highs against the yen on Monday, as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported by expectations for a U.S. rate hike before the year end.
USD/JPY hit 124.36 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since June 24; the pair subsequently consolidated at 124.34, gaining 0.23%.
The pair was likely to find support at 123.88, Friday's low and resistance at 124.63, the high of June 10.
The dollar remained supported after data on Friday showed that the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3% in June, while consumer prices ticked up by 0.1% last month on a yearly basis.
A separate report showed that U.S. housing starts rose 9.8% to 1.174 million units in June, compared to expectations for an increase of 6.2%.
U.S. building permits rose 7.4% to 1.343 million units last month, confounding expectations for a 11.8% drop.
The data came after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said, in testimony before the House Financial Services committee, that the Fed is likely to raise rates "at some point this year." She added that the U.S. labor market healthier but "still some slack."
Demand for the safe haven yen also weakened as Greek banks reopened on Monday after a forced 3-week closure but restrictions on cash withdrawals were to remain. In a decree Saturday, the Greek government kept the daily cash withdrawal limit at €60 but added a weekly limit of €420.
The decree came on the same day as Greece's coalition government swore in its new, reshuffled cabinet. Five prominent dissidents from the Syriza party, the senior coalition party, were replaced.
On Friday, German lawmakers voted in favour of opening discussions on Greece's third bailout and the European Union decided to release a short-term loan of €7.16 billion to help Greece pay back a loan due Monday to the European Central Bank.
The Greek Parliament was scheduled to vote on further austerity measures on Wednesday.
The yen was also lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY rising 0.28% to 134.74.