Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against the yen on Thursday, as renewed concerns over the handling of the debt crisis in the euro zone supported safe haven demand.
USD/JPY hit 77.49 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 77.63, inching up 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 77.28, the low of November 30 and resistance at 77.88, the high of November 9.
Risk sentiment was boosted on Wednesday, after six major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank agreed to lower dollar swap rates to prevent a lack of liquidity in the global financial system.
In addition, China cut banks’ reserve-ratio requirements by 0.5% in an effort to boost liquidity and support the world’s second largest economy amid global market turmoil.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted in November for the first time since February 2009 as export orders fell sharply.
But investors remained concerned as the moves only offered temporary support, rather than guaranteeing long term solutions to the financial crisis in the single currency bloc.
In Japan, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said the government will compile a fourth spending package this fiscal year to help companies cope with the strong yen, but did not provide details on the funding.
The yen was up against the euro with EUR/JPY advanced 0.12%, to hit 104.47.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release its weekly report on initial jobless claims, while the Institute of Supply Management is to release data on manufacturing activity.
Forexpros
