Forex - USD/JPY rises on U.S. corporate earnings, housing data

[Ramon Ramirez]

Forexpros - The dollar fell against the yen in Asian trading on Thursday as investors sold the greenback despite strong housing data out of the U.S.

Healthy U.S. earnings out of the U.S. sent Asian equities rising, which further fueled demand for the yen.

In Asian trading on Thursday, USD/JPY hit 78.57, down 0.28%, up from a session low of 78.52 and off a high of 78.80.

The pair was likely to find support at 78.52, the earlier low, and resistance at 78.80, the earlier high.

U.S. housing starts jumped 6.9% in June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 760,000 units, a near four-year high and well above expectations for a gain of 5.2% to 745,000 units.

Housing starts for May were revised up to 711,000 units from a previously reported 708,000 units.

Building permits issued in June dropped 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted 755,000, worse than expectations for a decline of 2.4% to 765,000.

Building permits issued in May totaled 784,000.

The dollar would normally rise on such data but held steady as investors avoided the greenback to wait and see weekly jobless claims hit the wire later Thursday.

Investors therefore snatched up positions in yen and later in Asian stocks.

Meanwhile earnings came in better-than-expected for many companies in the U.S., especially those in the technology sector, including IBM, Yahoo! and Intel, which fueled demand for Asian equities.

The yen was up against the pound and up against the euro, with GBP/JPY down 0.24% and trading at 123.06 and EUR/JPY down 0.22% and trading at 96.58.

Later Thursday, Japan will release its All Industries Activity Index, which measures the monthly change in overall production by all sectors of the Japanese economy.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. will release data on initial jobless claims as well as numbers on existing home sales and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.