Yen Falls Amid Rising Risk Appetite

The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday amid rising risk appetite, as investors waited for clues about the next U.S. interest rate hike from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech later in the day.

In other economic news, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that consumer prices in Japan fell 0.3 percent on year in April. That beat forecasts for -0.4 percent, although it weakened from -0.1 percent in March.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, also dipped 0.3 percent. That was unchanged from the previous reading and it beat forecasts for -0.4 percent.

Thursday, the yen showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the euro, the U.S .dollar and the Swiss franc, it held steady against the pound.

In the Asian trading, the yen fell to 2-day lows of 123.08 against the euro, 111.18 against the Swiss franc and 74.26 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 122.86, 110.92 and 73.97, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 126.00 against the euro, 113.00 against the franc and 76.00 against the kiwi.

The yen dropped to 161.42 against the pound, from an early 2-day high of 160.71. The yen is likely to find support around the 163.00 area.

Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the yen edged down to 110.00 and 79.49 from yesterday's closing quotes of 109.76 and 79.30, respectively. On the downside, 113.00 against the greenback and 82.00 against the aussie are seen as the next support levels for the yen.

Looking ahead, the second estimate of U.S. GDP data for the first quarter, U.S. University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for May and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are due to be released in the New York session.

At 1:15 pm ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak at an event hosted by the Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.