Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher against the yen on Tuesday, as sentiment on the greenback became mildly stronger ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated policy statement due on Wednesday.
USD/JPY hit 108.10 during European late morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 108.04, adding 0.20%.
The pair was likely to find support at 107.08, the low of October 23 and resistance at 108.73, the high of October 8.
Investors were eyeing the conclusion of the Fed’s two day meeting on Wednesday for any indications that a slowdown in growth in Europe or China could prompt the U.S. central bank to delay possible rate hikes.
The Fed was widely expected to wind up its asset purchasing stimulus program, known as quantitative easing.
The greenback weakened on Monday after data showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the slowest rate in six months in October as new order growth slowed and business confidence declined.
Research firm Markit said its U.S. services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 57.3 this month, from 58.9 in September.
A separate report showed that U.S. pending homes sales rose just 0.3% in September, missing forecasts for a 0.5% gain.
In Japan, data on Tuesday showed that retail sales rose at an annualized rate of 2.3% in September, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain, after a 1.2% increase the previous month.
The yen was lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY gaining 0.23% to 137.24.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Monday showing that German business confidence fell to the lowest level since December 2012 this month added to fears over the outlook for fourth quarter growth in the euro area’s largest economy.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders and a report by the Conference Board on consumer confidence.