Investing.com - The yen held weaker in Asia on Thursday after corporate services price data showed a higher than expected gain with the market cautious ahead of remarks by the Fed chief at the end of the week.
USD/JPY changed hands at 100.55, up 0.10%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7610, down 0.04%.
In Japan, the corporate services price index rose 0.4%, above the 0.1% increase seen year-on-year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 94.73.
Overnight, the dollar pushed higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, despite the release of weak U.S. existing home sales data as sentiment on the greenback continued to strengthen ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s highly anticipated speech on Friday.
The U.S. National Association of Realtors said existing home sales decreased by 3.2% in July to 5.39 million units from the 5.57 million units in June. The consensus forecast was for a 0.4% decline to 5.51 million units.
Markets were jittery as investors wait to see if Yellen will restate the hawkish view of the economy expressed by Fed officials last week or echo the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, which indicated that officials are divided on when to raise rates. The Investing.com Fed Rate Monitor Tool showed an 18% chance of a rate hike by September, up from 12% at the start of last week.