Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the yen on Tuesday, but continued to remain supported near six year peaks amid heightened expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates.
USD/JPY was down 0.21% to 109.25, off Monday’s highs of 109.73, the most since August 2008.
Investors continued to watch events in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protests continued into Tuesday, halting some activity in the territory's business hub.
Shares in Hong Kong and Tokyo were lower overnight, supporting demand for the traditional safe haven yen.
Demand for dollar continued to be underpinned by the view that the strengthening economic recovery in the U.S. would prompt the Federal Reserve to hike rates sooner.
A report on Monday showed that U.S. household spending rose at a faster than expected rate in August, indicating that the economic recovery was likely to continue in the current quarter.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report after August’s report fell short of expectations.
Elsewhere, EUR/USD was at 1.2695, holding just above the 14-month trough of 1.2662 hit overnight.
The euro zone was to release what would be closely watched preliminary data on consumer prices later Tuesday, ahead of the outcome of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, eased 0.12% to 85.65, not far from overnight highs of 85.93, a high last seen in July 2010.