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Dollar holds firm against yen

Tokyo - The dollar held firm against the yen in Asia on Thursday amid lingering speculation that Japanese authorities may intervene in markets to check the yen's strength, analysts said.

The dollar, which this week plunged into the mid-¥83 range to a new 15-year low against the Japanese currency, fetched ¥84.76 in Tokyo afternoon trade, up from ¥84.59 in New York late on Wednesday.

The euro rose to $1.2711 from $1.2655 in New York and to ¥107.76 from ¥107.02.

Market players "cannot push with yen buying due to caution against intervention and monetary easing" by Japan, said Mizuho Corporate Bank market economist Daisuke Karakama.

"Having said that, the dollar came off its intraday high of around ¥84.90 today on speculation that intervention would be impossible right now given senior officials are travelling abroad," Karakama said.

Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa was to leave for the United States on Thursday to attend a financial symposium while Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda was travelling to China at the weekend for economic talks.

Japanese officials have been under pressure to show concrete plans to act against the strength of the yen, which threatens the country's exporters, amid growing frustration over perceived inaction.

Currency rates hardly moved after Ichiro Ozawa, a controversial power broker in Japanese politics, said he will run in the ruling party's leadership election next month, aiming to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Further weak US data disappointed the market, leaving investors to focus on Japan's policy response to the yen's strength.

New-home buying in the US slumped in July to the lowest level on record going back to 1963. A slight rise in demand for US manufactured durable goods was also well under expectations.

Investors were also cautious ahead of a speech Friday by Federal Reserve chairperson Ben Bernanke.

"Investors are reluctant to buy the dollar above the psychological level of ¥85.00," a dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.

The dollar was mostly lower against Asian units, sinking to 1 191.20 South Korean won from 1 195.10 on Wednesday and to 45.12 Philippine pesos from 45.38.

It also fell to $1.3551 Singapore dollars from $1.3593 and to 31.43 Thai baht from 31.52. The dollar edged up to 8 975.00 Indonesian rupiah from 8 971.00 and was unchanged at $32.01 Taiwan dollars.

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