Forex - Yen weaker after Kuroda remarks in light Asian data day

Investing.com - The Japanese yen was slightly weaker in early Asian trade on Friday with no major data releases scheduled and many markets shut for the Lunar New Year holidays, but some remarks by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda helped soften the outlook for the yen.

Kuroda said the BoJ is watching the Japanese government bond market closely and that negative real rates are part of the policy to reach the 2% sustained inflation rate target.

USD/JPY traded at 119.05, up 0.09%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7794, up 0.03%. EUR/USD traded at 1.1360, down 0.07% as Greece's woes continued to mount.

Overnight, the dollar held gains against the other major currencies on Thursday, after mixed U.S. economic reports as concerns over Greece's debt continued to weigh on market sentiment.

In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index deteriorated to a 12-month low of 5.2 this month from January’s reading of 6.3. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 9.3 in February.

The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 14 decreased by 21,000 to 283,000 from the previous week’s total of 304,000.

Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 11,000 to 293,000 last week.

The dollar had weakened on Wednesday after the minutes of the Fed's January meeting showed that policymakers expressed concern that raising interest rates too soon could dampen the U.S. economic recovery.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.01% to 94.46.

A Greek request that included a pledge to maintain "fiscal balance" for a six-month period, in order to give it time to reach a new agreement on growth over the next four years with its partners in the euro zone has so far not been enough to secure continued loans, Reuters reported.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it was "not a substantial proposal for a solution" and did not meet the criteria agreed on at the euro group meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday.

The European Commission had earlier welcomed the bailout extension request, saying it could pave the way for compromise and stability in the euro zone.

Earlier Thursday, the minutes of the European Central Bank's January meeting showed that the Governing Council "broadly shared" the view that quantitative easing was needed.