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Tokyo - The dollar stayed within a narrow range in Asian trade on Thursday as lingering hopes for further monetary easing were offset by worries about economic fundamentals, analysts said.
The dollar bought ¥78.47 in morning trade, little changed from late on Wednesday in New York, where it stood at ¥78.51.
The euro bought $1.2913 and ¥101.33 in Asian trade, compared with $1.2903 and ¥101.31 in New York.
The dollar was well supported in the short term, because of increased risk appetite, said Osamu Takashima, Citibank Japan chief currency strategist.
The greenback has risen against the yen over the past few days, but there is little in the way of economic fundamentals to back that up, he said.
"The dollar likely won't rise above a mid-term important technical point," he said, noting 78.90 as the resistance.
Masafumi Yamamoto, Barclays Bank chief currency strategist, said position adjustments while the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting continues might create a bit of movement.
The BoJ was unlikely to offer anything new on Friday, but might announce more easing somewhere down the road, he told Dow Jones Newswires.
Improving US economic indicators have increased investors' hopes for positive US jobs data, to be released Friday, he added.
