Forex – USD/JPY climbs in early U.S. trade

Forexpros – The U.S. dollar moved higher against the Japanese yen in U.S. trade Friday, lifted by poor industrial production numbers in Japan as well a safe-haven alternative in light of a downturn in global equities.

In early U.S. trade USD/JPY hit 77.20, the pair’s highest since September 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 77.14, rising 0.40%.

The pair was likely to find support at 76.12, last Wednesday’s low, and resistance at 77.98, the high of September 5.

Earlier Friday, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that the nation’s industrial production rose less than expected in August, to a seasonally adjusted 0.8% from 0.4% the previous month. Economists had forecast a 1.5% gain.

Also Friday, Japan’s Statistics Bureau reported that the country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in August, down from 4.7% the month before. Market expectation were for Japan’s jobless rate to remain unchanged.

Later in the trading day, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal income in August fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, matching market expectations, while consumer spending rose by 0.2% for the month.

And research group Kingsbury International’s Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index rose to 60.4 in September, up from 56.5 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 56.0 for the month.

The nearly flat consumer activity figure, combined with early profit taking sent Wall Street shares lower in the Friday session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.57% to 11,090.18, the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.88% to 2,458.98, and the S&P 500 shed 0.97% to 1,149.20.

Meanwhile, the yen moved lower against both the euro and the British pound with EUR/JPY up 0.43% to hit 103.07, and GBP/JPY rising 1.01% to hit 118.33.

The Bank of Japan’s closely-watched quarterly Tankan report on manufacturer’s and non-manufacturer’s business sentiment was scheduled for release over the weekend.