Yen rises against dollar after positive data

The Japanese yen rose against the US dollar on Thursday, after the release of upbeat economic data in Japan.

The Bank of Japan earlier today decided to keep the benchmark interest rate at -0.10% unchanged, which is expected move as most central banks around the world are lowering rates to stimulate their economies amid the pandemic.

Data showed today showed that the Japanese retail sales index fell by 0.6% last month, better than forecasts of a drop by 2.2%.

The first reading of the US GDP for the third quarter showed a growth of 2%, missing forecasts of 2.6%.

As of 20:23 GMT, USD/JPY fell 0.2% to 113.5, after hitting a high of 113.8 and a low of 113.2.