Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to four-and-a-half month highs against the yen on Wednesday, as Tuesday's strong U.S. data still broadly supported the greenback , while a disappointing trade report from Japan weighed on demand for the yen.
USD/JPY hit 103.34 during late European morning trade, the pair's highest since April 7; the pair subsequently consolidated at 103.26, rising 0.34%.
The pair was likely to find support at 102.52, Tuesday's low and resistance at 103.39.
Demand for the dollar remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. housing starts jumped 15.7% in July, while the number of new permits granted to home-builders also accelerated, pointing to underlying strength in the housing sector.
The data offset a report showing that U.S. consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July.
In Japan, official data showed that the trade deficit narrowed to ¥1.02 trillion last month, from ¥1.07 trillion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of ¥1.08 trillion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to ¥0.77 trillion in July.
The yen was lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY edging up 0.13% to 137.27.