Credit: Forexpros - The Japanese yen advanced against the U.S. dollar Friday, erasing earlier gains by the greenback on the strength of better-than-expected retail sales.
In early Asian trade USD/JPY hit 77.02, the pair's highest since Thursday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 76.75, falling 0.11%.
The pair was likely to find support at 76.31, Thursday's low, and resistance at 78.34, Monday's high.
The greenback got a brief boost in mid-day trade following the release of data from the U.S.Census Bureau that showed that retail sales rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.5%, from a revised figure of 0.2% in the previous month. Analysts had expected U.S. core retail sales to rise 0.2% last month.
It was the highest level reached by U.S. retail sales since April.
But a separate report from the University of Michigan, its index on consumer sentiment dropped to 54.9 from 63.7 in July. The July figure was the lowest reading for the index since May of 1980.
Economists had forecast a reading of 61 for the month.
In Friday's Asian session, Japan's Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry reported that industrial production grew by 3.8% in July, slightly below market expectations of a gain to 3.9%.
Intervention in the foreign exchange market on August 4 by the Bank of Japan in an effort to weaken the Japanese currency against its counterparts, proved to produce a shortlived downward effect on the yen. Overall sentiment in the yen remained positive as a safe-haven exit from recent volatile movements in global equities.
The yen moved higher against the euro but down against the British pound, with EUR/JPY down 0.07% to hit 109.33, and GBP/JPY adding 0.21% to hit 125.01.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
