Investing.com - The yen was steady to stronger in Asia on Friday as investors await next week's review of interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
USD/JPY changed hands at 109.43, down 0.03%, while AUD/USD rose 0.12% to 0.7746.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.08% to 94.62.
Overnight, the dollar trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Thursday, as markets digested remarks by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and a mixed bag of U.S. economic reports.
The euro pulled back from session highs after ECB President Draghi said the bank stands ready to use “all instruments available,” including further interest rate cuts to ensure the inflation rate returns to its target.
Draghi also said that the risks to the euro zone economy remain “tilted to the downside” and warned that inflation could turn negative again in the coming months. But he added that the ECB is still confident that inflation will rise back toward its target of just below 2%.
The comments came after the ECB held the benchmark interest rate at a record low zero, in a widely anticipated decision.
The ECB's stance could prompt the Federal Reserve to follow suit when it faces a similar interest rate decision next week. A subsequent rate cut by the ECB could also allow the Fed to implicitly tighten monetary policy while leaving short-term interest rates unchanged. Since approving a historic interest rate hike in December, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has held its benchmark Federal Funds Rate between 0.25 and 0.50% at each of its first two meetings this year.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 16 decreased by 6,000 to 24,000 from the previous week’s total of 253,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 10,000 to 263,000 last week.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index fell to -1.6 this month from March’s reading of 12.4. Economists had expected a more modest decline to 8.9.