Forex - Yen weaker despite solid wages data, all eyes on Greece

Investing.com - The yen and euro held weaker on Tuesday in Asia wwhile the Aussie gained solidly as investors looked ahead to increasingly tense negotiations over Greece's debt woes.

EUR/USD traded at 1.0924, down 0.03%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 124.88, up 0.08%.

The leaders of Germany, France and Greece's international creditors worked late Monday with "real intensity" to clinch a deal in debt negotiations ahead of a June 5 deadline to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund, Reuters reported.

In Australia, the current account deficit reached A$10.7 billion, slightly narrower than the A$10.8 billion deficit seen in the first quarter.

Japan reported April average cash earnings rose 0.9%, well above the 0.4% gain seen year-on-year.

Earlier in New Zealand the terms of trade index rose 1.5% quarter-on-quarter with downtrends seen in export and import prices.

NZD/USD traded at 0.7106, up 0.28%, despite the data missing the 1.7% rise seen. AUD/USD traded at 0.7630, up 0.33%.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.01% at 97.53.

Overnight, the dollar remained broadly higher a basket of other major currencies on Monday, after data showing that manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than expected in May added to expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

In a report, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of purchasing managers rose to 52.8 last month from a reading of 51.5 in April. Analysts had expected the manufacturing PMI to edge up to 52.0 in May.

Earlier Monday, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. personal spending was unchanged in April, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.2%. Personal spending rose 0.5% in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported gain of 0.4%.

The report also showed personal income rose 0.4% in April, above forecasts for a 0.3% increase and after holding flat in March.