During the early Asian session on Friday, the Japanese yen strengthened against other major currencies as investors sought safe-haven assets following disappointing U.S. economic data released yesterday.
In the U.S., existing home sales fell more than expected while jobless claims report in the week ended June 16th showed that claims fell modestly for the week but still came in above analyst estimates.
Sentiment was also hurt after Moody's downgraded 14 of the world's largest banks.
The yen gained to 80.02 against the U.S. dollar and 124.81 against the pound with 79.8 and 124.00 seen as the next upside target levels, respectively. At Thursday's close, the greenback-yen and the pound-yen pairs were quoted at 80.29 and 125.20, respectively.
Against the euro and the NZ dollar, the yen hit 2-day highs of 100.40 and 63.02 from yesterday's close of 100.69 and 63.16, respectively. If the yen rises further, it may target 99.5 against the euro and 62.5 against the kiwi.
The yen that closed Thursday's deals at 83.86 against the franc and 78.00 against the Canadian dollar climbed to 2-day highs of 83.60 and 77.79, respectively. The next upside target level for the yen is seen at 83.00 against the franc and 77.5 against the loonie.
Against the Australian currency, the yen rose to a 2-day high of 80.37 and the next upside target level for the yen is seen at 79.5. The pair ended yesterday's New York session at 80.58.
Looking ahead, SNB quarterly bulletin and German IFO business sentiment index for June are scheduled for release in the European session.
At 8:30 am ET, Canada CPI for May is due.
by RTT Staff Writer
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