Dollar slightly lower against yen in Asia trading, The euro fell against the dollar

The dollar fell slightly against the yen in Asia Friday in a trading that was largely directionless and players reacted little to Japan's central bank announcement to leave its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged. The euro fell against the dollar.

The dollar bought 115.34 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market Friday late afternoon, down 0.09 yen from late Thursday in New York. The euro fell to US$1.2078 from US$1.2097 late Thursday.

The Bank of Japan decided Friday to leave its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged based on the view that the Japanese economy isn't yet out of deflation.

Amid signs of an economic recovery, Bank of Japan officials have predicted that Japan would pull out of deflation this year, ending the spiral of declining prices over the last several years that has undercut corporate profits, wages and consumer spending.

At Friday's meeting, Bank of Japan policy board members voted 7-2 to maintain the ultra-easy monetary policy. The decision was in line with market expectations.

Players said the dollar has bounced around in narrow ranges in recent days as the market awaits fresh factors that could provide the currency with new direction, the AP reported.

The dollar was mostly higher against other Asian currencies rising to 986.7 South Korean won from 981.0 and 9,435 Indonesian rupiah from 9,397.

A.M.