Investing.com - The yen held stronger Wednesday in Asia as top policymakers in Japan prepared for another set of meetings on the economy in the wake of the Brexit vote in the U.K.
USD/JPY traded at 102.51. down 0.25%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7393, up 0.11%. GBP/USD edged down 0.15% to 1.3326.
In Japan, retail sales for May fell 1.9% year-on-year, compared to a 1.6% fall seen. In Australia the HIA new home sales figures for May are due with a fall of 4.7% expected.
The pound eased after U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told Europe’s leaders that they will have to offer the U.K. more control over immigration at the end of a fractious day where politicians across Europe clashed over the meaning and consequences of last week’s Brexit vote.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.02% to 96.17.
Overnight, the dollar pared losses against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as the release of upbeat U.S. data boosted optimism over the strength of the economy, lending support to the greenback.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 98.0 this month from a reading of 92.4 in May, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 92.6. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 93.3 in June.
The report came after the third estimate of first quarter U.S. growth domestic product showed growth of 1.1%, revised up from the initial reading of a 0.8% rise. Analysts had expected growth to settle at 1.0%.
However, real consumer spending for the first three months of the year was revised down to 1.5%, from the prior reading of 1.9%. Economists had forecast an upward revision to 2.0%
Global stock markets suffered the largest two-day rout ever, as a wave of selling wiped around $3 trillion from markets.
Ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings both downgraded their credit ratings for the U.K. on Monday and warned that further cuts are possible.
S&P, the only major ratings agency to maintain a Triple A rating for the U.K., cut its rating by two notches to AA, warning that Brexit posed a risk to the constitutional and economic integrity of the U.K.
Fitch lowered its rating from AA+ to AA, forecasting an "abrupt slowdown" in growth in the short-term.