Investing.com - The yen was slightly weaker in early Asia on Thursday as investors noted little data on the calendar but with markets still focusing on the yuan, the Shanghai Composite Index, and the remnants of last night's U.S. CPI and FOMC Minutes.
USD/JPY changed hands at 123.92, up 0/09%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7349, up 0.01%.
The latest Federal Reserve meeting highlighted concern over the state of the global economy, driving markets to question the likelihood that the Fed will raise rates next month.
The minutes showed policymakers continued to express broad concerns about lagging inflation and the weak world economy even as the U.S. job market improved further. Market expectations for a Fed hike in September fell from one in two to roughly one in three after the minutes were published.
"It looks like based on commodity prices, China, wages not really picking up, that [Fed officials] are not getting any closer to meeting their inflation target and seems like they're probably not going to be willing to go in September" with a rate hike, said Don Ellenberger, head of multi-sector strategies at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.
A delay in the start of the tightening cycle is seen as supportive of equities. However, concern about the strength of the global economy.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.03% to 96.45.
Overnight, before the Fed minutes, the dollar edged lower against a basket of other currencies on Wednesday after data showing that U.S. inflation rose at a slower than expected rate last month, as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.
The Labor Department reported that the consumer price index ticked up just 0.1% in July, below forecasts for a 0.2% gain.
Underlying inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, also rose 0.1%, compared to expectations for a 0.2% increase.