Forex - Yen up as Japan industrial output gains offer hope on growth

Investing.com - The Japanese yen held stronger in Asia on Friday as hopes for growth were seen in higher than expected industrial output, though unemployment, consumer prices and retail sales disappointed.

USD/JPY traded at 119.26, down 0.14%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7810, up 0.08%.

National core CPI in Japan rose 2.2%, below the 2.3% year-on-year for January expected. The unemployment rate in January ticked up to 3.6%, compared to an expected steady rate of 3.4%. Household spending fell 5.1% in January year-on-year.

Industrial production month-on-month jumped 4.0%, well above an expected gain of 2.7% and retail sales fell 2.0%, compared to a forecast of down 1.3% year-on-year.

Overall on jobs in Japan. the number of unemployed fell 70,000 on year in January to 2.31 million,the 56th straight drop from year-earlier levels.

And more workers were hired in manufacturing after months of decline, thanks to the gradual pickup in production and exports.

In Australia private sector credit for January rose 0.5% month-on-month, matching expectations.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.02% to 95.34.

Overnight, the U.S. dollar index soared more than 1% to a three-week high on Thursday following the release of a flurry of economic data that sent the dollar upward against its main rivals.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.7% in January, above estimates of a 0.6% decline. The drop in inflation was the largest decline since December, 2008. The CPI, which slipped 0.3% in December, experienced a decline for the third straight month.

The reports were released one day after Janet Yellen concluded the first of her two semi-annual appearances before Congress. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chair, indicated that the U.S. central bank will delay its plan of raising interest rates until wages increase and inflation moves closer to its targeted goal of 2%.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Commerce said that total durable goods orders for the month increased 2.8%, above forecasts of a 1.7% increase. Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, edged up 0.3%.

The U.S. Department of Labor also reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 21 increased by 31,000 to 313,000 from the prior week's revised total of 282,000.

The euro, meanwhile, weakened to a monthly-low against the U.S. dollar.

In Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble expressed disbelief at the latest comments from Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis, hinting that Greece may still be unable to meet their short term debt obligations.

"I can't see anything in what Varoufakis is doing that makes life easier for us," Schäuble said during a closed-door meeting of the German Parliament on Thursday.

Still, German legislators are expected to approve a four-month extension of a euro zone bailout to Greece on Friday.