Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was steady against the yen on Friday, hovering close to two-and-a-half week highs after data showed that inflation slowed in Japan last month and as Thurday's upbeat jobless claims data continued to support demand for the greenback.
USD/JPY hit 101.72 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 101.75, easing 0.05%.
The pair was likely to find support at 101.42, Thursday's low and resistance at 102.20, the high of July 7.
Official data showed that Japan's consumer price inflation rose 3.6% in June from a year earlier, after a 3.7% gain the previous month.
Excluding fresh food, Japan CPI rose 3.3% in June from a year earlier, in line with expectations, after a 3.4% increase in May.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than eight years last week.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 19 declined by 19,000 to 284,000, from the previous week’s total of 303,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 308,000 last week.
The data fuelled speculation over the timing of a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The yen was little changed against the euro, with EUR/JPY inching up 0.01% to 137.08.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders.