Investing.com - The dollar slid against the yen on Friday on fresh expectations for the Federal Reserve to keep monetary policy loose despite recent comments from a monetary authority suggesting otherwise.
In U.S. trading, USD/JPY was down 0.33% and trading at 101.39, up from a session low of 101.32 and off a high of 101.73.
The pair was expected to test support at 101.32, the earlier low, and resistance at 102.17, Tuesday's high.
On Thursday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard told Fox Business Network that an improving economy may make conditions ripe for interest rates to rise possibly in early 2015.
The dollar rose initially, though investors digested Bullard's comments and took them in stride, as he is a known inflation hawk and is a non-voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which allowed for profit taking on Friday despite positive U.S. data.
The revised Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to 82.5 in June from 81.2 in May, beating expectations for a 82.2 reading.
Earlier this week, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 2.9% in the first quarter of the year, far surpassing consensus forecasts for a decline of 1.7%.
Data on Thursday revealed that U.S. personal spending rose 0.2% last month, below expectations for an increase of 0.4%. Personal spending for April was revised to a flat reading from a previously reported decline of 0.1%, which also kept expectations alive that the Fed won't rush to raise interest rates.
In Japan, official data earlier showed that household spending dropped by an annual rate of 8.0% last month, compared to expectations for a 2.0% decline, after a 4.6% fall in April.
Data also showed that Tokyo core consumer price inflation, which excludes food, remained unchanged at an annual rate of 2.8% in June, in line with expectations.
In addition, a government report showed that Japan retail sales fell 0.4% in May compared to a year earlier, less than the expected 1.8% decline and after a 4.4% drop in April.
The yen, meanwhile, was up against the euro and up against the pound, with EUR/JPY down 0.20% at 138.20, and GBP/JPY trading down 0.39% at 172.54.