Investing.com - The dollar hit eight-month highs against the yen on Tuesday, as upbeat U.S. data fueled demand for the greenback while expectations for Tokyo to tweak pension fund policy softened the Japanese currency.
In U.S. trading, USD/JPY up 0.73% at 105.12, up from a session low of 104.30 and off a high of 105.21.
The pair was expected to test support at 103.53, last Thursday's low, and resistance at 105.44, the high from Jan. 2.
The greenback firmed after the Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 59.0 in August from 57.1 in July, defying analysts' calls for the index to tick down to 56.8.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.
The new orders component of the index rose to 66.7, an increase of 3.3 points from 63.4 in July.
The employment index grew for the fourteenth consecutive month the report said, registering 58.1, down 0.01 points from 58.2 in July.
Also in the U.S., the Census Bureau reported earlier that U.S. construction spending rose to 1.8% in July from -0.9% in June, whose figure was revised up from -1.8%.
Analysts had expected U.S. construction spending to rise to 1.0% last month.
The numbers fueled market expectations for the Federal Reserve to wind down stimulus programs as early as next month and raise interest rates some time next year.
The yen, meanwhile, came under pressure on amid market talk that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will appoint a policy maker who may shift pension funds toward riskier assets.
Reports that Abe may name Yasuhisa Shiozaki, deputy policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, to run the health ministry softened the yen, as the ministry manages the Government Pension Investment Fund.
The yen, meanwhile, was down against the euro and down against the pound, with EUR/JPY up 0.73% at 138.00, and GBP/JPY trading up 0.05% at 173.38.
On Wednesday, the U.S. is to publish data on factory orders.