Investing.com – USD/JPY rose during Asian trading hours on Friday after the BOJ monetary policy meeting minutes highlighted worries over the health of emerging economies.
Released by Bank of Japan on Friday, the minutes of the meeting held on Jan. 21 - 22 noted that, "with regard to the emerging and commodity-exporting economies, many members said that the developments in these economies, some of which we're facing structural problems such as current account deficits, continued to warrant attention together with developments in the global financial markets."
The yen was also hit by Japan’s record trade deficit of JPY2.79 trillion in January and loose monetary policy by Bank of Japan.
The Australian dollar was meanwhile impacted by the worries over economic slowdown in China, its biggest trading partner.
Markets will also be watching the meeting of the Group 20 finance ministers due to start on Friday in Sydney.
USD/JPY rose 0.23% to 102.50, AUD/USD went up 0.05% at 0.9010, while NZD/USD rose 0.12% at 0.8313.
On Thursday, the greenback traded largely higher against most major currencies after investors blamed a weak Philadelphia factory gauge on harsh winter weather and stuck with the greenback betting on no changes to monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index plunged to minus 6.3 in February from January’s 9.4 reading. Analysts had expected the index to inch down to 8.0 in February.
Still, the report did little to convince investors that the Federal Reserve will rethink its policy of gradually dismantling its bond-purchasing program, which currently stands at $65 billion in Treasury holdings and mortgage debt purchased by the U.S. central bank each month
Also on Thursday, the Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 3,000 to 336,000, slightly below expectations for a decline of 4,000.
In a separate report, the Labor Department said U.S. consumer prices rose 1.6% on a year-over-year basis in January, in line with forecasts. Consumer prices were 0.1% higher from a month earlier, also matching forecasts.
Core consumer prices, which are stripped of volatile food and energy components, were also up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis and 0.1% from the previous month.
The euro, meanwhile, came under pressure after Markit Economics reported that the euro zone composite output purchasing managers’ index ticked down to a two-month low of 52.7 this month, down from January’s 31-month high of 52.9.
Analysts were expecting a 53.1 reading, and the report softened the single currency due to the continent's still high unemployment rates and soft inflationary pressures, which many think will prompt the European Central Bank to loosen policy if recovery flounders.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was flat at 80.32.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with private-sector data on existing homes sales.