USD/JPY below 101.50 on Weaker U.S. Economic Data

The yen touched the strongest level in almost four weeks against the dollar as investors sought safety after weaker-than-forecast U.S. data added to signs of an uneven recovery in the world’s largest economy.

A gauge of the dollar was at almost a five-week low after consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, trailed estimates in May. Treasury yields and stocks declined. Canada’s currency reached the strongest since January versus the greenback, and the New Zealand dollar climbed toward a record. The pound rose amid bets measures to cool the U.K. housing market won’t derail the nation’s economy.

“The data we got this morning on personal consumption was a big hit to growth expectations for the second quarter,” Robert Sinche, global strategist at Stamford, Connecticut-based brokerage Pierpont Securities LLC, said in a phone interview. “The selloff in dollar-yen is actually quite modest given the magnitude of the drop in U.S. interest rates.”

Bloomberg

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