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Tokyo - The dollar rose against most Asian currencies on Friday but its gains were capped by doubts about the chances of a US interest rate hike this year.
Speculation that the Federal Reserve would soon lift borrowing costs - a plus for the dollar - got a strong boost this week as an influential member of the central bank's New York branch hinted that a rate hike was possible as early as September.
A day later, minutes from the Fed's July meeting, released on Wednesday, said that policy members wanted to keep "options open" but remained divided on the need for a near-term rate hike.
The more cautious tone left markets unsure about a move next month.
"A dollar-buying trend will not emerge until US interest rates rise consistently on the back of a robust economy," Jun Kato, a senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the yen... zigzagged toward 95 (per dollar) over a three-month horizon."
In Tokyo, the dollar ticked up to ¥100.32 from ¥99.94 on Thursday in New York, but it remains well off levels above ¥102 last week.
The euro changed hands at $1.1333 and ¥113.70 against $1.1354 and ¥113.48 in US trade.
Markets will be keeping a close eye on remarks from Fed chair Janet Yellen at an annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming next week.
"It would seem that Federal Reserve officials face a very complex, and possibly divisive, debate over the conundrum of an improving employment sector against a background of low inflation and tepid consumer spending," Stephen Innes, a senior trader at forex firm OANDA, wrote in a commentary.
In other trading, the dollar rose against most emerging units, jumping 1.08% on the South Korean won and 0.7% on the Taiwan dollar.
The US unit also tacked on healthy gains against the Thai baht, Singapore dollar, Philippine peso, Malaysia's ringgit and the Indonesian rupiah.
