Investing.com - The dollar firmed against the yen on Thursday after weekly jobless claims data revealed a recovery taking place in the U.S. labor market, something the Federal Reserve has said will highlight the need to taper monetary stimulus programs.
Stimulus tools such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to spur recovery by driving down interest rates, weakening the U.S. dollar in the process.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, USD/JPY was trading at 101.10, up 1.06%, up from a session low of 100.02 and off a high of 101.16.
The pair was likely to find support at 99.57, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 101.53, the high from July 7.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000.
The data sent the dollar rising against the yen a day after the Federal Reserve said in the release of its October policy meeting minutes that it might begin tapering the pace of its monthly bond purchases soon if conditions in the labor market improve.
"During this general discussion of policy strategy and tactics, participants reviewed issues specific to the Committee's asset purchase program. They generally expected that the data would prove consistent with the Committee's outlook for ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and would thus warrant trimming the pace of purchases in coming months," the minutes from the Oct. 29-30 meeting read.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index fell to 6.5 in November from 19.8 in October.
Economists had expected the index to decline to 15.0.
The employment component of the index dropped to 1.1 from a reading of 15.1 last month, though investors focused largely on the weekly jobless claims.
Separate government data revealed that the U.S. producer price index declined 0.2% in October, in line with expectations, while the country's core PPI rose 0.2%, beating market calls for a 0.1% gain.
The yen was down against the pound and down against the euro, with GBP/JPY up 1.44% and trading at 163.44 and EUR/JPY trading up 1.25% at 136.12.
Stimulus tools such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to spur recovery by driving down interest rates, weakening the U.S. dollar in the process.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, USD/JPY was trading at 101.10, up 1.06%, up from a session low of 100.02 and off a high of 101.16.
The pair was likely to find support at 99.57, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 101.53, the high from July 7.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000.
The data sent the dollar rising against the yen a day after the Federal Reserve said in the release of its October policy meeting minutes that it might begin tapering the pace of its monthly bond purchases soon if conditions in the labor market improve.
"During this general discussion of policy strategy and tactics, participants reviewed issues specific to the Committee's asset purchase program. They generally expected that the data would prove consistent with the Committee's outlook for ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and would thus warrant trimming the pace of purchases in coming months," the minutes from the Oct. 29-30 meeting read.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index fell to 6.5 in November from 19.8 in October.
Economists had expected the index to decline to 15.0.
The employment component of the index dropped to 1.1 from a reading of 15.1 last month, though investors focused largely on the weekly jobless claims.
Separate government data revealed that the U.S. producer price index declined 0.2% in October, in line with expectations, while the country's core PPI rose 0.2%, beating market calls for a 0.1% gain.
The yen was down against the pound and down against the euro, with GBP/JPY up 1.44% and trading at 163.44 and EUR/JPY trading up 1.25% at 136.12.