USD/JPY lifts after US consumer confidence rises more than expected

The US stock markets have been open for around 30 minutes now and the scene is red. The European stock markets are coming under the hammer too. The FTSE 100 is pushing closer to the 8,250 handle and the DAX and CAC are in the red now by even more than earlier. There have been a couple of comments over the wires from the Fed non-voter, Kashkari, but those were more a re-hash of what he said earlier this morning. The latest reading of US consumer confidence has just been released and it was above the forecast range, at 102. The prior reading was 97 and the markets expected something around 96. So, that is quite a beat and it helped to push the dollar higher too. The USD/JPY is rebounding back to around 156.90, from an earlier underneath 156.60