Japanese Yen Advances Against Majors

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen climbed against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, amid worries over China's sluggish economic recovery and the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S.

The minutes from the Fed's July meeting said "most of the central bank officials continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy."

Several Fed officials still saw the need for more interest rate hikes to combat still elevated inflation, which could hurt economic activity.

Citi economist Veronica Clark told Bloomberg that she expects the U.S. central bank to pause in September and hike by 25bps in November.

Fitch Ratings warned that it may reconsider China's A+ sovereign credit score, triggering concerns about the economic outlook.

The yen climbed to 185.76 against the pound and 145.61 against the greenback, from an early multi-year low of 186.47 and more than a 9-month low of 146.56, respectively. The yen may find resistance around 180.00 against the pound and 139.00 against the greenback.

The yen rose to 158.76 against the euro and 107.81 against the loonie, from its early 2-day lows of 159.29 and 108.22, respectively. The yen is likely to face resistance around 155.00 against the euro and 103.00 against the loonie.

The yen recovered to 166.03 against the franc, reversing from an early 2-day low of 166.42. If the currency extends rise, 150.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The yen rebounded modestly against the kiwi and was trading at 86.76. Next key resistance for the currency may be located around the 84.00 level.

In contrast, the yen retreated to 94.00 against the aussie, from an early 9-day high of 93.21. The yen is poised to find support around the 96.00 level.