US dollar extended its advance against the Japanese yen, sentiment influenced by FED comments

US dollar advanced further against the Japanese yen on Friday, as risk aversion among investors boosted demand for the greenback. Additionally, market sentiment was still feeling the influence, caused by FED statement on Wednesday.

USD/JPY pair hit a session high at 98.11 at 7:32 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 98.01. The cross was up by 0.73% for the day. Support was expected at June 20th low, 96.19, while resistance was to be met at June 11th high, 98.98.

US dollar expanded broadly after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that the central bank could begin decelerating asset purchases by the end of 2013 and terminate them completely by the middle of 2014.

However, a series of mixed US economic data came out on Thursday, giving birth to uncertainty about US economic recovery. The National Association of Realtor’s said that US existing home sales rose by 4.2% during May, reaching annual number of 5.18 million. Preliminary estimates showed annual value of 5.00 million homes, while during April the sales indicator stood at 4.97 million.

The Philadelphia FED Index reached 2-year high in June, rising sharply to a level of 12.5 from -5.2 in May. This sudden climb surprised economists, who placed their expectations, regarding the index reading, in negative territory, -1.0.

Additionally, The Department of Labor in the United States announced that Initial Jobless Claims rose by 18 000 to seasonally adjusted 354 000 during the week ending on June 15th, significantly mismatching expectations of a rise only by 4 000 to 340 000 claims. Previous week result was revised up to 336 000 from 334 000.

Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda announced earlier today that he expected financial markets will stabilize over time, reflecting Japanese economic development. He warned, however, that uncertainty, regarding worlds third largest economy remained high and Japanese central bank will be watching closely market development.

Japanese yen retreated against the euro, as EUR/JPY pair advanced by 0.60% to 129.34.