Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against the yen on Friday, hovering near four-month highs as expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its bond purchases in the near future continued to support demand for the greenback.
USD/JPY hit 100.96 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 101.12, easing 0.03%.
The pair was likely to find support at 100.17, Thursday's low and resistance at 101.49, the high of July 8.
Demand for the dollar remained supported after preliminary data on Thursday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November, while a separate report showed that jobless claims last week fell by 21,000 to 323,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
The yen was lower against the euro with EUR/JPY rising 0.24%, to hit 136.69.
Also Friday, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said Germany's business climate index rose to a 19-month high of 109.3 in November, from a reading of 107.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 107.7 this month.
The data comforted the idea that Germany's economic recovery is gaining momentum, after data on Thursday showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone's biggest economy rose to a 29 month peak this month.
USD/JPY hit 100.96 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 101.12, easing 0.03%.
The pair was likely to find support at 100.17, Thursday's low and resistance at 101.49, the high of July 8.
Demand for the dollar remained supported after preliminary data on Thursday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November, while a separate report showed that jobless claims last week fell by 21,000 to 323,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
The yen was lower against the euro with EUR/JPY rising 0.24%, to hit 136.69.
Also Friday, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said Germany's business climate index rose to a 19-month high of 109.3 in November, from a reading of 107.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 107.7 this month.
The data comforted the idea that Germany's economic recovery is gaining momentum, after data on Thursday showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone's biggest economy rose to a 29 month peak this month.