The dollar fell against the yen on Wednesday as investors raced to a nicely priced Japanese currency in search of a safe haven amid stock-market declines across Asia fueled by lackluster U.S. data.
In Asian trading on Wednesday, USD/JPY hit 82.97, down 0.25%, up from a low of 82.89 and off a high of 83.22.
The pair sought to test support at 81.99, Friday's low, and resistance at 83.38, Tuesday's high.
In the U.S., the Conference Board reported that its closely watched consumer confidence index slipped to 70.2 in March from a revised 71.6 in February, slightly worse than an expected reading of 70.3.
Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. house price index fell at an annualized rate of 3.8% in January from a year earlier, meeting expectations although the reading shows that home prices continue falling.
Furthermore, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he could rule out the need for stimulus tools to jolt the economy such as quantitative easing, which are bond purchases from banks designed to flood the economy with liquidity with the aim of encouraging price stability and hiring by pushing long-term interest rates low.
While monetary stimulus can boost stock prices, investors sold to take a wait-and-see approach.
The yen, meanwhile, was up against the pound and up against the euro, with GBP/JPY falling 0.21% to 132.37 and EUR/JPY down 0.17% at 110.55.
Later Wednesday, markets will move on data for durable goods orders in the U.S. and also on gasoline and crude inventories.
In Japan, retail sales figures are due out, while in New Zealand, business confidence figures will be released.
In Asian trading on Wednesday, USD/JPY hit 82.97, down 0.25%, up from a low of 82.89 and off a high of 83.22.
The pair sought to test support at 81.99, Friday's low, and resistance at 83.38, Tuesday's high.
In the U.S., the Conference Board reported that its closely watched consumer confidence index slipped to 70.2 in March from a revised 71.6 in February, slightly worse than an expected reading of 70.3.
Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. house price index fell at an annualized rate of 3.8% in January from a year earlier, meeting expectations although the reading shows that home prices continue falling.
Furthermore, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he could rule out the need for stimulus tools to jolt the economy such as quantitative easing, which are bond purchases from banks designed to flood the economy with liquidity with the aim of encouraging price stability and hiring by pushing long-term interest rates low.
While monetary stimulus can boost stock prices, investors sold to take a wait-and-see approach.
The yen, meanwhile, was up against the pound and up against the euro, with GBP/JPY falling 0.21% to 132.37 and EUR/JPY down 0.17% at 110.55.
Later Wednesday, markets will move on data for durable goods orders in the U.S. and also on gasoline and crude inventories.
In Japan, retail sales figures are due out, while in New Zealand, business confidence figures will be released.
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