Investing.com - The U.S. dollar hit a one-month high against the yen on Tuesday, as market sentiment improved on the back of better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and hopes that an upcoming European Union summit will advance plans to tackle the debt crisis in the region.
USD/JPY hit 78.93 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since September 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 78.84, gaining 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 78.32, Monday’s low and near-term resistance at 79.01, the high of September 7.
Investor confidence was boosted on Monday after official data showed that U.S. retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September, beating expectations for a 0.8% increase.
The data came after better-than-forecast Chinese trade data over the weekend eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
The dollar also found support amid reports that Japan’s third-biggest mobile-phone operator Softbank was poised to buy a USD20 billion stake in Sprint Nextel.
Investors were looking ahead to Thursday’s EU summit amid ongoing speculation over whether Spain will formally request a bailout from its euro zone partners in the coming weeks. A bailout request would trigger a bond buying program by the European Central Bank, aimed at lowering peripheral euro zone borrowing costs.
The yen was also lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY up 0.68% to 102.52.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on consumer price inflation and industrial production.
USD/JPY hit 78.93 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since September 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 78.84, gaining 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 78.32, Monday’s low and near-term resistance at 79.01, the high of September 7.
Investor confidence was boosted on Monday after official data showed that U.S. retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September, beating expectations for a 0.8% increase.
The data came after better-than-forecast Chinese trade data over the weekend eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
The dollar also found support amid reports that Japan’s third-biggest mobile-phone operator Softbank was poised to buy a USD20 billion stake in Sprint Nextel.
Investors were looking ahead to Thursday’s EU summit amid ongoing speculation over whether Spain will formally request a bailout from its euro zone partners in the coming weeks. A bailout request would trigger a bond buying program by the European Central Bank, aimed at lowering peripheral euro zone borrowing costs.
The yen was also lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY up 0.68% to 102.52.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on consumer price inflation and industrial production.