Investing.com - The yen weakened further on Monday in Asia along with the Aussie as the dollar found some wind at its back on policymaker comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer hailing the U.S. economy ahead of a speech later in the week by the Fed chief.
USD/JPY changed hands at 100.72, up 0.51%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7593, down 0.46%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.34% to 94.80.
In the coming week, the focus will be on a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for fresh clues on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.
Traders will also be looking to Tuesday’s survey data on euro zone business activity for fresh signals on the health of the region's economy in wake of Britain's vote to exit the European Union earlier in the summer.
Elsewhere, Japanese inflation data will also be in focus as investors assess the need for further stimulus in the world's third's largest economy.
Last week, the U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Friday, bouncing off a seven-week low as comments by San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams reignited some hopes for a near-time rate hike. Odds for a near-term rate hike came back in focus after Williams signaled support for a September rate increase in a Thursday afternoon speech.
"In the context of a strong domestic economy with good momentum, it makes sense to get back to a pace of gradual rate increases, preferably sooner rather than later," he said.
Williams's speech was just the latest piece of hawkish rhetoric from top Fed officials. Earlier this week, New York and Atlanta Fed presidents William Dudley and Dennis Lockhart both said a September rate hike may be on the table.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, investors are pricing in a 12% chance of a rate hike by September. December odds were at around 46%.
Despite Friday's gains, the greenback still ended with a weekly loss of 1.25% amid conflicting messages over the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting published earlier in the week showed committee members remained divided on the timing of the next rate hike, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move.