Investing.com - The dollar was lower against the safe haven yen on Thursday after data showed that manufacturing activity in China contracted again in February, fuelling fears over the outlook for emerging market economies. USD/JPY hit 101.78, the lowest since Tuesday, and was last down 0.37% to 101.92. The pair was likely to find support at 101.35 and resistance at 102.45, Wednesday’s high. The yen was boosted after data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index fell to a seven month low of 48.3 this month, down from 49.5 in January, remaining below the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction for a second month. The euro was also lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.27% to 140.11. Elsewhere, the euro pushed higher against the dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.12% to 1.3749, not far from Wednesday’s seven-week highs of 1.3772. The dollar briefly rose against the euro on Wednesday, before paring back gains, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting indicated that that the current pace of its decrease in bond purchases would remain unchanged, so long as the economy shows signs of improvement.

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