Forex - Yen hold steady ahead of BoJ minutes, corporate prices

Category: Forex

The yen held steady ahead of central bank board meeting minutes for last month and corporate service prices with investors closely monitoring events in the Middle East after Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter overnight.USD/JPY was flat at 122.52, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7271, up 0.21%.In Japan come the minutes of the October policy meeting as well as the corporate services price index for October, seen up 0.6% year-on-year. In Australia, third quarter construction work done is due with a fall of 2.1% seen quarter-on-quarter.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.01% to 99.68.Overnight, the dollar trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Tuesday, despite the release of a weak U.S. consumer confidence report, as data showing that the U.S. economy grew more than initially estimated in the third quarter supported the greenback.The U.S. Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence sank to a 12-month low of 90.4 this month from a reading of 99.1 in October, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 97.6. Analysts expected the index to rise to 99.5 in November.The report came shortly after the U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the three months to September, in line with expectations.Preliminary data initially pegged U.S. growth at 1.5% in the third quarter. The U.S. economy grew 3.9% in the second quarter. The upbeat growth data added to expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month.