Investing.com - The yen held slightly stronger in Asia on Tuesday on safe haven demand in a light data day regionally.
USD/JPY changed hands at 119.98, down 0.04%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.6978, down 0.17%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was dow 0.04% at 96.10.
Overnight, the dollar erased gains against the other major currencies on Monday, after data showed that U.S. pending home sales dropped unexpectedly last month, although comments by Federal Reserve official William Dudley added to expectations for a near-term U.S. rate hike.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said that pending home sales dropped 1.4% in August, confounding expectations for a 0.4% uptick after a 0.5% rise the previous month.
Earlier Monday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending rose 0.4% in August, beating expectations for an increase of 0.3%. Personal spending rose 0.4% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.3% gain.
The report also showed that personal income increased by 0.3% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.4% gain. Personal income rose 0.5% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.4% increase.
Meanwhile, New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley said the Fed remains on track for a rate hike this year and could move as soon as the upcoming meeting in October.
The comments came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last Thursday that the U.S. central bank was likely to raise interest rates in 2015.
Demand for the safe-haven yen strengthened after International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde said in an interview on Monday that the IMF is likely to revise downwards its estimates for global economic growth due to slower expansion in emerging economies.