Forex - Yen weaker ahead of revised Q1 GDP, China trade, Greece eyed

Investing.com - The yen held slightly weaker in Asia on Monday as investors looked ahead to data sets out of Japan and China as well as an eye on events in Greece.

USD/JPY changed hands at 125.62, up 0.02%, in early Asia, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7623, up 0.01%. EUR/USD traded at 1.1109, down 0.04%.

Japan is to release revised data on first quarter economic growth with an 0.7% gain seen quarter-on-quarter.

China is also slated to release trade data with a surplus of $45.95 billion seen and exports down 5%, while imports slid 10.7%.

At the weekend, European Parliament President Martin Schulz urged Greece in a newspaper interview to accept a proposal by its international lenders for a cash-for-reforms deal, warning Athens that failing to reach an agreement would have "dramatic" consequences.

The European Union is willing to compromise with the Greek government, Schulz told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday, adding that the lenders had already made concessions in the debt negotiations.

"I can only warn the Greek government against turning down the hand held out to them," Schulz, who has been supportive of Greece's cause, said. "Time is running out and the consequences would be dramatic."

Last week, the dollar rose to its highest level in 13 years against the yen on Friday and gained ground against the euro after a stronger-than-expected U.S. employment report boosted the outlook for higher interest rates.

The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 280,000 jobs in May, ahead of economists forecast for 220,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.5% from 5.4% in the previous month.

April’s payrolls report was revised to show that 221,000 jobs were created.

Hourly earnings increased 0.3% in May, after a 0.2% increase in April.

The upbeat data, particularly the pick-up in wage growth underlined the view that the economy is on track to rebound after a weak first quarter and bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve could start to hike interest rates at its September policy meeting.

The dollar rallied against the other major currencies following the release of the data.

In the week ahead, investors will be focused on the euro zone, while reports on euro zone industrial production will also be closely watched.

In the U.S., Thursday's retail sales report and Fridays report on consumer sentiment will be scrutinized for signs that the world’s largest economy is gaining momentum in the current quarter.

On Monday, in the euro zone, Germany is to release data on industrial production.

Canada is to publish reports on building permits.