Investing.com -The dollar was higher against the yen on Thursday, extending gains into a third session after upbeat U.S. data bolstered sentiment on the economic outlook.
USD/JPY hit 104.91, the highest since January 10 and was last up 0.15% to 104.73.
The pair was likely to find support at 104.08, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 105.32, the high of January 10.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after data released on Wednesday showed that manufacturing activity in the Empire State expanded at the fastest pace since May 2012 in January as new orders rose sharply.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer price inflation rose at the strongest rate in six months in December.
The strong data reinforced expectations that the U.S. economic recovery will continue to deepen going into this year and offset lingering concerns over last week’s surprising weak U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
In Japan, data on Thursday showed that core machinery orders unexpectedly rose for a second month in November as demand picked up ahead of an upcoming sales tax hike.
The yen was lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY rising 0.23% to 142.60.
Elsewhere, the euro was little changed against the dollar, with EUR/USD edging up 0.04% to 1.3610.