Investing.com - The yen held weaker in Asia on Thursday with retail sales in Japan disappointing and as investors digested a curb on output agreed to by OPEC members and mulled chances of a Fed rate hike in November as at least one FOMC voter saying it will be discussed.
USD/JPY changed hands at 100.95, up 0.26%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7693, up 0.01%. Retail sales in Japan fell 2.1% for August year-on-year, compared to a 1.8% decline seen.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.04% to 95.31.
OPEC surprised markets Wednesday and agreed to production curbs under a formula to cut output to a range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels of oil per day from 33.4 million.
Overnight, the dollar edged back up against the other major currencies on Wednesday, after positive U.S. data on durable goods orders, although investors remained cautious over the outcome of a meeting between major oil producers.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that durable goods orders remained unchanged last month, compared to expectations for a 1.4% decline. July’s orders were revised down to show an increase of 3.6% from a previously reported 4.4% gain.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, dropped 0.4% last month, in line with forecasts.
The Investing.com Fed Rate Monitor Tool shows the market sees a 10.3% chance of a rate hike in November.