The yen fell further in Asia as the U.S. dollar continued gains even after positive data had been published in Japan. Thus, household spending in Japan gained 2.5% in July vs. the 1.1% increase seen, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.0%. Despite this, USD/JPY traded 102.26, up 0.33%. Also today Australia reported building approvals for July soared 11.3%, compared withwith a 0.5% decline expected. Nevertheless, AUD/USD traded at 0.7560, down 0.11%. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.25% to 95.77.
