By Alex Ho
Investing.com - The Japanese yen gained on Thursday in Asia gained on Thursday in Asia amid weak export figures and fears about the mysterious virus in China.
The EUR/USD pair inched down 0.1% to 1.1082 as traders awaited the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting due later in the day. The meeting will be followed bya press conference with President Christine Lagarde.
The USD/JPY pair lost 0.3% to 109.53 amid ongoing fears about the widening coronavirus outbreak, as authorities ramped up efforts to contain the virus ahead of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday next week.
The World Health Organisation will decide later on Thursday whether to declare the situation a global health emergency.
On the data front, Japanese exports for December fell 6.3% in December as compared to a year before, data from country’s Ministry of Finance data showed. That was far lower than the expected 4.2% decrease.
The USD/CNY pair lost 0.4% to 6.9283.
The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to 0.6858 after a surprise drop in unemployment.
Meanwhile,the U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies last traded at 97.335, up 0.04%.
The index traded higher overnight after the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales rose 3.6% to a 5.54 million annual rate. That was the strongest pace of growth since February 2018.