Forex - Yen slightly weaker as BoJ policymakers see easing pace steady

Investing.com - The yen eased slightly on Wednesday after central bank remarks offset data that showed better than expected machinery orders and in the corporate goods price index.

USD/JPY changed hands at 124.37, up 0.01%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7681, down 0.12%. EUR/USD rose 0.11% to 1.1292.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday aggressive easing will continue as financial markets and asset prices are not overheated.

"There is no asset bubble in Japan at this point," he told the Lower House pf Parliament's Financial Affairs Committee.

The governor declined comment on daily fluctuations in the currency market but repeated foreign exchange rates "must reflect economic fundamentals."

"A rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board may not necessarily cause the dollar to appreciate and the yen to depreciate," he said.

Earlier, BoJ board member Takehiro Sato said to business leaders in central Japan that there was no need to change the pace of government bond buying now around ¥80 trillion annually.

Also, in Japan core machinery orders for April jumped 3.8%, well above the 2.0% month-on-month drop expected, and the corporate goods price index, or CPGI, for May rose 0.3%, better than the 0.2% increase month-on-month seen. The government said it has upgraded its views on machine order prospects after the latest data.

The Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment survey fell 6.9% in June, with the previous for May showing a 6.4% rise, putting it back below the 100 level threshold.

The survey shows RBA hopes for household demand to contribute to growth are still a bit away even after the latest monthly business survey by National Australia Bank was positive because both conditions and confidence rose above average.

Up ahead, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens has a business group speech in Brisbane.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.07% at 95.10.

Overnight, the dollar remained broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies in subdued trade on Tuesday, as no major U.S. economic reports were expected throughout the day and investors continued to focus on Greek debt talks.

EUR/USD dropped 0.46% to 1.1240 on Tuesday as investors also remained cautious after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Monday that "there isn’t much time left" to reach an agreement on a cash-for-reforms deal needed to unlock more financial aid before Greece runs out of money.

Athens delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, saying it would repay the money along with other payments due this month by the end of June.

Athens submitted new proposals for economic reforms to the European Commission on Tuesday, fuelling hopes for a breakthrough that could unlock new funding before the country runs out of money.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the two sides could reach a deal if Greece’s creditors dropped demands to cut pensions and other proposals which would push Greece deeper into recession.

Also Tuesday, data confirmed that the euro area economy grew 0.4% in the first three months of the year. But the Greek economy contracted 0.2% in the quarter, sending the country back into a recession.