The Japanese yen strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as traders speculate that the Bank of Japan is likely to raise its interest rate in the monetary policy meeting due next week, to boost the currency.
The markets suspect the strength of the currency is due to the Fx market intervention by the Japanese government authorities.
Traders await the outcome of the BoJ\'s policy meeting due on July 31.
The Asian stock markets also traded lower, led by steep declines for technology stocks, which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, after a few big-name U.S. tech firms reported disappointing quarterly numbers. Lingering concerns over slowing growth in the world\'s second largest economy, China, also kept investors nervous.
Traders also remained cautious ahead of the release of key U.S. GDP and inflation data later in the week, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
In economic new, data from the Bank of Japan showed that the services producer prices in Japan were up 3.0 percent on year in June, accelerating from the upwardly revised 2.7 percent increase in May. On a monthly basis, producer prices were flat for a second straight month.
In the Asian trading today, the yen rose to near 3-month highs of 165.04 against the euro and 152.24 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday\'s closing quotes of 166.79 and 153.87, respectively. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 162.00 against the euro and 150.00 against the greenback.
Against the pound and the Swiss franc, the yen advanced to more than a 2-month high of 196.27 and nearly a 2-month high of 172.33 from Wednesday\'s closing quotes of 198.60 and 173.83, respectively. The yen is likely to find resistance around 193.00 against the pound and 171.00 against the franc.
Looking ahead, Germany\'s Ifo business sentiment survey data for July, European Central Bank\'s euro area monetary aggregates data for June and the Confederation of British Industry\'s industrial trends survey results for July are slated for release in the European session.
In the New York session, Canada average weekly earnings data for May, U.S. durable goods orders for June, GDP growth rate for the second quarter, weekly jobless claims data, U.S. core PCE price index for the second quarter and U.S. Kansas Fed manufacturing index for July are slated for release.