Investing.com - The dollar firmed against the yen on Wednesday after industry data revealed the U.S. private sector picked up more payrolls in October than expected.
In U.S. trading, USD/JPY was up 0.87% at 114.59, up from a session low of 113.42 and off a high of 114.84.
The pair was expected to test support at 113.42, the session low, and resistance at 114.84, the session high.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported earlier that non-farm private employment rose by 230,000 last month, beating expectations for an increase of 220,000.
The economy created 225,000 jobs in September, whose figure was upwardly revised from a previously reported 213,000.
While not always as a reliable predecessor for the government's official jobs report, the latest due out on Friday, Nov. 7, the ADP report does offer guidance on private-sector hiring, and Wednesday's report offset data revealing that service-sector activity in the U.S. grew at its slowest rate in four months in October.
The Institute of Supply Management reported earlier that its non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 57.1 in October from a 58.6 in September. Analysts had expected the index to inch down to 58.0 in October.
The Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index decreased to 60.0 from September's 62.9 reading.
The New Orders Index fell to 59.1 from September's 61.0 reading.
The Employment Index increased 1.1 points to 59.6 from the September reading of 58.5 and indicates growth for the eighth consecutive month, which supported the greenback as well.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates the non-manufacturing sector economy is generally expanding, below 50.0 indicates the sector is contracting.
The yen, meanwhile, held lower ahead of the release of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting minutes later in the day.
Separately, the yen was down against the euro and down against the pound, with EUR/JPY up 0.36% at 143.01, and GBP/JPY trading up 0.68% at 183.05.