Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded higher against the Japanese yen during Thursday’s Asian session following the release of a pair of Japanese data points.
In Asian trading Thursday, USD/JPY advanced 0.30% to 97.66. The pair was likely to find support at 96.56, Tuesday’s low and a two-month low and resistance at 97.80, the high of August 28.
Earlier Thursday, the Economic and Social Research Institute said that Japan’s core machinery orders 5.4% in September after being flat in August. Analysts expected a September increase of 2%.
In a separate report, the METI said its Japanese tertiary industry activity index rose by 0.7% last month after contracting 0.4% in August. Analysts expected the tertiary index to rise by 0.5% in September.
The dollar advanced against most of its major rivals after President Obama nominated Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke atop the Fed when Bernanke retires in January 2014.
That post-nomination rise for the greenback sat well with yen bears, but disappointed those traders that are long riskier currencies.
Yellen was seen competing for the job against former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who bowed out of the race last month, and her nomination clears up policy uncertainty, which gave the dollar room to rise despite expectations for overall monetary policy to remain on the loose side.
In U.S. economic news out Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity rose 1.3% for the week ending October 4. The index fell 0.4% in the prior week.
Elsewhere, EUR/JPY rose 0.13% to 131.84 while NZD/JPY lost 0.28% to 80.62.
In Asian trading Thursday, USD/JPY advanced 0.30% to 97.66. The pair was likely to find support at 96.56, Tuesday’s low and a two-month low and resistance at 97.80, the high of August 28.
Earlier Thursday, the Economic and Social Research Institute said that Japan’s core machinery orders 5.4% in September after being flat in August. Analysts expected a September increase of 2%.
In a separate report, the METI said its Japanese tertiary industry activity index rose by 0.7% last month after contracting 0.4% in August. Analysts expected the tertiary index to rise by 0.5% in September.
The dollar advanced against most of its major rivals after President Obama nominated Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke atop the Fed when Bernanke retires in January 2014.
That post-nomination rise for the greenback sat well with yen bears, but disappointed those traders that are long riskier currencies.
Yellen was seen competing for the job against former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who bowed out of the race last month, and her nomination clears up policy uncertainty, which gave the dollar room to rise despite expectations for overall monetary policy to remain on the loose side.
In U.S. economic news out Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity rose 1.3% for the week ending October 4. The index fell 0.4% in the prior week.
Elsewhere, EUR/JPY rose 0.13% to 131.84 while NZD/JPY lost 0.28% to 80.62.