On Monday the yen, euro were higher against the greenback as investors eyed the key events later in the week, which include the Federal Open Market Committee meeting and U.S. gross domestic product data.
The Japanese currency was stronger despite a weaker than expected corporate services price index.
USD/JPY was last at 123.39, down 0.34%, compared with 123.79 late Friday in New York.
EUR/USD held at 1.1021, down 0.35%, from 1.0986 Friday.
AUD/USD was steady at 0.7280%.
Data earlier signaled that Japan's corporate services index rose 0.4%, below the 0.6% gain expected year-on-year for June. The yen was higher, however.
“The yen is being bought as stocks remain weak,” said Mizuho Securities FX strategist Kenji Yoshii. Investors were already taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of the FOMC and other events, he noted.
The dollar was broadly supported last week after upbeat data released in the U.S.
Data on Friday signaled that new home sales fell to a seven-month low in June, while another report showed that manufacturing activity edged higher this month. The Commerce Department said in a report that sales of new homes dropped 6.8% last month, to an annual rate of 482,000 units, the lowest level since November.
Meanwhile, last week saw a decline in the commodity linked currencies after soft Chinese factory data fueled concerns over slackening demand for raw materials.
Data from private sector showed that manufacturing activity in China slowed to a 15-month low in July.
The preliminary reading of the Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index dipped to 48.2 from a final reading of 49.4 in June - the lowest reading since April 2014.
The weak data signaled that growth in China, the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, remains weak.
