Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against the Japanese yen in Asian trade Friday, following the announcement from the European Central Bank of a plan to extend dollar loans to debt-threatened regional financial institutions.
In mid-day Asian trade USD/JPY hit 76.86, the pair’s highest since Thursday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 76.79, rising 0.11%.
The pair was likely to find support at 76.41, the low of August 31, and resistance at 77.58 Monday’s high.
Earlier Thursday, the ECB announced it "has decided, in coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct three U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year."
The announcement followed reassurances from French and German leaders that they would continue to support Greece’s participation in the European shared currency.
Wall Street posted gains for a fourth consecutive day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.66%, the Nasdaq Composite Index was lifted 1.34%, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.72%.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that Americans filing for initial jobless benefits rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000 for the week ending September 9.
Market expectations were for jobless claims to decline to 410,000.
Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in August, just above market expectations of a 0.1% gain, and following a 0.9% rise in July.
Meanwhile, the yen moved lower against both the euro but up against the British pound with EUR/JPY down 0.08% to hit 106.34, and GBP/JPY rising 0.06% to hit 121.25.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet is due to deliver a speech in Poland later Friday after officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, meet to discuss an expansion of the euro region’s new bailout fund.