Investing.com - The U.S. traded slightly lower against the Japanese yen during Friday’s Asian following the worst day in almost two years for U.S. stocks Thursday.
In Asian trading Friday, USD/JPY inched down 0.08% to 97.20. The pair was likely to find support at 96.19, the session low and resistance at 99.05, the high of June 11.
Heading into the start of Friday’s Asian session, the yen was down 2.8% this week against the greenback, its worst weekly tumble against the dollar since the first week of April when the Bank of Japan announced its massive monetary stimulus efforts.
Traders will now turn their attention to a speech later Friday by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Kuroda is not expected to make any suprise announcements, but some traders do think it is only matter of time before BoJ makes another stimulus announcement.
The yen gained some ground against the greenback in recent weeks as fears about the end of quantitative easing in the U.S. weighed on riskier assets, sending traders to the yen as a safe-haven play, a status the Japanese currency just cannot seem to shake.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 4.2% in May to an annual rate of 5.18 million units, the best level since November 2009. Analysts expected a reading of 5 million units.
The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose 18,000 last week to 354,000. Analysts expected a smaller increase to 340,000. The less-volatile four week average rose just 2,500 to 348,250.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic rose to 12.5 from -5.2 last month. The reading is the best since April 2011. Readings above zero indicate expansion.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY inched up 0.06% to 89.57 while EUR/JPY nudged down 0.05% to 128.51. NZD/JPY rose 0.21% to 75.62.
In Asian trading Friday, USD/JPY inched down 0.08% to 97.20. The pair was likely to find support at 96.19, the session low and resistance at 99.05, the high of June 11.
Heading into the start of Friday’s Asian session, the yen was down 2.8% this week against the greenback, its worst weekly tumble against the dollar since the first week of April when the Bank of Japan announced its massive monetary stimulus efforts.
Traders will now turn their attention to a speech later Friday by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Kuroda is not expected to make any suprise announcements, but some traders do think it is only matter of time before BoJ makes another stimulus announcement.
The yen gained some ground against the greenback in recent weeks as fears about the end of quantitative easing in the U.S. weighed on riskier assets, sending traders to the yen as a safe-haven play, a status the Japanese currency just cannot seem to shake.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 4.2% in May to an annual rate of 5.18 million units, the best level since November 2009. Analysts expected a reading of 5 million units.
The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose 18,000 last week to 354,000. Analysts expected a smaller increase to 340,000. The less-volatile four week average rose just 2,500 to 348,250.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic rose to 12.5 from -5.2 last month. The reading is the best since April 2011. Readings above zero indicate expansion.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY inched up 0.06% to 89.57 while EUR/JPY nudged down 0.05% to 128.51. NZD/JPY rose 0.21% to 75.62.