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Tokyo - The dollar was flat against the yen in Asia on Friday, as the market awaited a crucial US employment report while cautiously watching Japan's new cabinet lineup.
The greenback stood at ¥76.87 in Tokyo trade, unchanged from New York late on Thursday.
The euro fetched $1.4269 compared with $1.4260 while the European common currency inched down to ¥109.69 from ¥109.72.
Major currencies were locked in tight ranges ahead of the jobs data, which is due out later in the global day, and key events for the euro over the next week, dealers said.
"It's a delicate balance between concerns about the US economic outlook and expectations for additional monetary easing from the (Federal Reserve)," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The euro came under pressure against the dollar on Wall Street after a raft of August manufacturing reports from around the world suggested that the United States was in better economic shape than Europe.
But the euro sell-off took a pause ahead of the US jobs report.
The market was largely unaffected by news that Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appointed relative unknown Jun Azumi, 49, as his finance minister, dealers said.
Azumi, a native of the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, worked as a reporter for NHK before launching his political career. This is his first role as a cabinet minister.
He was the ruling party's chief of parliamentary affairs under outgoing leader Naoto Kan, struggling to use his firm ties with the opposition to win cooperation in passing key bills through a divided parliament.
As finance minister, Azumi faces the tough tasks of shielding the economy from a strong yen and addressing a ballooning public debt as the nation's rapidly ageing population increases social security costs.
