Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against the Japanese yen in Asian Thursday, aided by better than expected U.S. housing figures but tempered by market disappointment in the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
In mid-day Asian trade USD/JPY hit 76.93, the pair’s highest since; the pair subsequently consolidated at 76.78, gaining 0.41%.
The pair was likely to find support at 75.97, the low of August 19, and resistance at 77.58 last Monday’s high.
At the conclusion of its two-day Federal Open Market Committee Meeting Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would be replacing a portion of the short-term debt in its portfolio with longer-term Treasuries in a move known as “Operation Twist.”
The projected USD400 billion debt-swap was highly anticipated by the market and was expected to relieve the Fed from the need to resume additional money creation steps.
Elsewhere, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose by 7.7% to a seasonally adjusted 5.03 million units in August, well above market expectations of a 1.7% gain.
Wall Street investors appeared largely unimpressed by the Fed’s announcement, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 2.49%, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.01%, and the S&P 500 slumped 2.94% by the end of Wednesday trade.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime MInister Yoshihiko Noda for the first time in New York, where the two discussed Japan’s rebuilding challenges in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.
Meanwhile, the yen moved lower against both the euro and the British pound with EUR/JPY up 0.43% to hit 104.21, and GBP/JPY rising 0.28% to hit 118.83.
The U.S. Department of Labor was due to release weekly figures on initial jobless claims later Thursday.