Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against the yen on Wednesday, after government data showed that Japan recorded a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in March and exports fell more than expected year-on-year, due to disruptions from the March 11 disaster.
USD/JPY hit 83.10 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 82.93, gaining 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 82.17, Monday’s low and a two-week low and resistance at 83.77, last Friday’s high.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Finance Ministry said overseas shipments declined 2.2% from a year earlier, the first drop since November 2009.
The fall was led by vehicle exports, which contracted 27.8%, the ministry said, after Japan’s leading automakers were forced to halt production amid broken supply chains and power shortages.
The report said Japan’s trade surplus fell to JPY196.5 billion in March, less than the forecast JPY645.40 billion surplus.
The yen was also lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY rallying 0.89% to hit 119.40.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.
ForexPros.com
