Investing.com - The yen was mostly steady in early Asia on Friday after a volatile session that saw the Bank of Japan deal a surprise blow to markets by offering no additional stimulus at the conclusion of its policy meeting, with investors now turning attention to Greece and an ongoing review of its economic reform program.
USD/JPY traded at 108.12, up 0.01%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7625, down 0.01%, ahead of data.
In Australia, housing credit data is due for March along with first quarter producer prices with a 0.2% gain seen quarter-on-quarter. As well, private sector credit for March is seen up 0.6% month-on-month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 93.73.
Overnight, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew released a summary on Thursday of his phone conversation on Greece's economic reform efforts with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
"Secretary Lew and Prime Minister Tsipras discussed the importance of Greece, the IMF, and European institutions constructively working together to conclude the first review of Greece's economic reform program and find a sustainable path forward in a timely manner. The Secretary underscored the importance of Europe following through on its commitment to put Greece's debt on a sustainable path through meaningful debt relief, adding that all parties need to be flexible to successfully conclude the negotiations."
On Thursday, the dollar pared losses against the other major currencies after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports, although the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy decision continued to weigh.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said that U.S. economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 0.5%, from the 1.4% expansion registered in the fourth quarter of 2015.
That was the slowest pace of growth since the first quarter of 2014 and missed consensus expectations for a 0.7% increase. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 23 decreased by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 257,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 248,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 12,000 to 260,000 last week.
The data came a day after the Fed left interest rates unchanged close to zero on Wednesday and offered little guidance on future rate hikes. On the other hand, the yen remained broadly supported after the Bank of Japan kept the deposit rate at minus 0.1% and its asset purchases at ¥80 trillion per year. It also pushed back the expected data for reaching its 2% inflation target.
Ahead of the meeting expectations had been building for more monetary stimulus measures.