Yen Rises Against Majors

02:13, 27th November 2014

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as regional stocks declined following soft economic data from the U.S. overnight.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currently down 123.37 points or 0.71 percent at 17,260.

On Wednesday, data from the Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by less than previously estimated in the month of November. The report said the consumer sentiment index for November was downwardly revised to 88.8 from the mid-month reading of 89.4.

Data from Labor Department showed that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended November 22nd. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 313,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 292,000.

Data from the National Association of Realtors showed that pending home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of October but remained at a healthy level. NAR said its pending home sales index tumbled 1.1 percent to 104.1 in October from an upwardly-revised 105.3 in September. Economists had been expecting pending home sales to increase by about 0.6 percent.

With crude oil prices at four-year lows and taking a toll of energy stocks across the globe, the investors focus is on the OPEC meeting that will take place in Vienna today.

In the New York session overnight, the yen was lower against most major currencies. The yen fell 0.01 percent against the euro, 0.01 percent against the pound and 0.05 percent against the Swiss franc on Wednesday.

In the Asian trading, the yen rose to an 8-day high of 117.26 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing quote of 117.72. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 116.21 area.

Against the euro, the pound and the Swiss franc, the yen edged up to 146.69, 185.18 and 121.99 from yesterday's closing quotes of 147.18, 185.88 and 122.44, respectively. The yen is likely to find resistance around 144.88 against the euro, 182.09 against the pound and 120.00 against the Swiss franc.

Looking ahead, Swiss industrial production for third quarter, German unemployment data for November, Eurozone M3 money supply data for October,economic sentiment index for November and GfK consumer sentiment index for December are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, German preliminary CPI data for November and Canadian current account data for third quarter are due to be released.

U.S. financial markets are closed in observance of Thanksgiving day holiday.