/www.fxserver.com/The yen was pushed higher in midmorning trade after the release of second quarter to June GDP showing a quarter-on-quarter rise of 0.5%, dealers said.
Local economists had earlier forecast second quarter Japan GDP to come in at a rise of 0.0-0.5% over the previous quarter, with the consensus at 0.2%.
Osamu Takashima, a foreign exchange analyst with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, said the yen rose on the initial positive reaction to the strong second quarter to June GDP data, with market participants largely ignoring the sharp downward revision of the first quarter to flat growth from the previous 1.4% rise.
"Such a reaction, however, looks to be short-lived, as the latest data will not change the overall assessment on the trend of the Japanese economy," he said.
"Therefore, this data alone is not sufficient to change the recent trading range for the dollar/yen."
According to other economic data released this morning, industrial output in July fell 0.4% month-on-month after a fall of 0.2% in June, compared with the consensus forecast of a rise of 0.7%.
"Once the initial reaction to the GDP data settles down, the dollar/yen is expected to return to the 117-120 yen trading range," Takashima said.
Meantime, wariness over possible 'event risk' ahead of the Sept 11 anniversary is expected to continue to cap the top side of the dollar, together with highly volatile trading on Wall Street, dealers said.
On the other hand, continued efforts by the Japanese authority in talking up the value of the dollar are expected to continue to prevent the sharp depreciation of the US currency, they said.
Tokyo 9.30 am New York 2.33 pm London 4.20 pm
Dollar
yen 117.82 down from 118.10 118.16
sfr 1.4937 down from 1.4940 1.4921
Euro
usd 0.9844 down from 0.9849 0.9842
stg 0.6345 down from 0.6357 0.6350
yen 115.98 down from 116.32 116.29
sfr 1.4704 down from 1.4713 1.4684
Sterling
usd 1.5466 down from 1.5494 1.5490
yen 182.22 down from 182.98 183.11
sfr 2.3102 down from 2.3147 2.3121
Australian dollar
usd 0.5522 up from 0.5515 0.5511
stg 0.3570 up from 0.3559 0.3557
yen 65.06 down from 65.13 65.12