Investing.com - The yen fell further in Asia on Tuesday as the dollar continued gains even after positive data trending in household spending, jobs and retail sales.
USD/JPY changed hands at 102.46, up 0.22%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7567, down 0.01%.
In Japan, household spending fell 0.05% in July year-on-year, less than the 0.9% decline expected, and gained 2.5% month-on-month, beating the 1.1% increase seen. The unemployment rate fell to 3.0%, below the expected 3.1% level seen.
Also in Japan, retail sales dipped 0.2% in July month-on-month, compared with a 0.9% drop expected.
Australia reported building approvals for July soared 11.3%, compared withwith a 0.5% decline expected month-on-month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.15% to 95.67.
Overnight, the dollar rose to fresh two-week highs against the other major currencies on Monday, helped by the release of upbeat U.S. data and as fresh hopes for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve continued to support the greenback.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported earlier Monday that personal spending increased 0.3% last month, in line with expectations.
The core PCE price index was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis, where it has held since March.
At the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the case for U.S. interest rate hikes has “strengthened” in recent months due to improvements in the labor market and to expectations for solid economic growth.
However, she did not indicate when the Fed would act, saying that higher interest rates will depend on incoming economic data.
Speaking shortly afterwards, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said Yellen’s speech was “consistent” with expectations for possibly two more rate hikes this year, opening the door to a September hike.