Investing.com - The yen strengthened in Asia on Wednesday in the wake of significantly better than expected first quarter GDP data, turning the focus to minutes from the Federal Reserve later in the day.
In Japan, provisional GDP for the first quarter rose 1.7% and at a 0.4% pace , both handily above expectations.
changed hands at 109.02, down 0.11%, while traded at 0.7318, down 0.11%.
Ahead in Australia, the is due for April. Also up is the first quarter wage price index with a 0.5% gain seen and a 2.2% gain expected .
In China, for April is expected. In March, house prices rose 4.9%.
The , which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.02% to 94.55.
Overnight, the dollar erased gains against the other major currencies on Tuesday, despite the release of positive U.S. economic reports, but the greenback still continued to trade close to a three-week high.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices rose 0.4% in April, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain and after an increase of 0.1% in March. Year-over-year, consumer prices were 1.1% higher last month.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased as expected in April by 0.2%.
A separate report showed that U.S. housing starts rose 6.6% to 1.172 million units in April, compared to expectations for an increase to 1.127 million units.
Building permits rose 3.6% to a 1.116 million units last month, compared to expectations for a 4.3% increase.
Data also showed that U.S. industrial production increased by 0.7% last month, its largest gain since November 2014 and better than expectations for a gain of 0.3%.
The euro found support amid reports euro zone finance ministers will seek to strike a deal with Greece next Tuesday on a package of contingency steps to ensure Athens will meet future fiscal targets.
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