Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against the yen on Tuesday, after the Bank of Japan underlined increasing risks for domestic growth and as concerns over the euro zone’s debt crisis continued to weigh on market sentiment.
USD/JPY hit 77.88 during early European trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 77.92, shedding 0.07%.
The pair was likely to find support at 77.73, the low of December 15 and resistance at 78.10, the high of December 21.
According to the minutes of the BOJ’s latest policy meeting, several policymakers indicated that financial market turmoil from the euro zone and the yen’s appreciation were increasing risks for growth in Japan.
At its November 15-16 meeting, the central bank had refrained from altering its monetary policy and also left its asset purchases and benchmark interest rate unchanged.
In the U.S., government data showed Friday that U.S. new home sales rose to a seven-month high in November, while durable goods orders rose a better-than-expected 3.8% in November from October.
Both reports came amid a week marked by bullish U.S. economic indicators, including a report showing that initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level since April 2008.
But investors remained jittery amid fears of mass credit downgrades in the single currency area and ahead of three and ten-year Italian bond auctions later this week.
Meanwhile, the yen was moderately lower against the euro with EUR/JPY easing up 0.01%, to hit 101.84.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on house price inflation, as well as a report on consumer confidence and manufacturing activity in Richmond.
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