Investing.com - The U.S. dollar pushed higher against the yen on Wednesday, boosted by the release of upbeat U.S. economic reports and as ongoing concerns over Greece's financial situation lent broad support to the greenback.
USD/JPY hit 123.23 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since June 26; the pair subsequently consolidated at 123.16, advancing 0.53%.
The pair was likely to find support at 121.91, Tuesday's low and a one-month low and resistance at 123.44, the high of June 22.
The Institute for Supply Management said on Wednesday its index of purchasing managers rose to 53.5 last month from 52.8 in May. Analysts had expected a more modest uptick to 53.1.
Separately, payroll processing firm ADP reported that U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 237,000 last month, above expectations for an increase of 218,000.
The economy created 203,000 jobs in May, whose figure was upwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 201,000.
Sentiment mildly improved earlier, after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent new proposals as part of a request for a third bailout, indicating that he was prepared to accept the majority of spending cuts demanded by the country’s creditors.
But investors remained cautious as German chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday there will be no negotiations on a new bailout for Greece before Sunday’s referendum.
Greece became the first developed country to default on the International Monetary Fund after its second bailout program expired late Tuesday. The IMF confirmed that the Greek government failed to make a scheduled €1.6 billion loan repayment.
The fund said Greece can now only receive further funding after its arrears are cleared. Greece asked for a last-minute repayment extension on Tuesday, which the fund said it will consider "in due course."
Speculation was mounting that Prime Minister Tsipras would cancel a snap referendum due to be held on July 5 on whether to accept the terms proposed by lenders for extending the country’s bailout.
The yen was higher against the euro, with EUR/JPY slipping 0.17% to 136.36.
Also Wednesday, research group Markit said that Germany's manufacturing purchasing managers' index remained unchanged at 51.9 last month, in line with expectations.
France's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.7 in June from 50.5 the previous month, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.