By MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar continued to gain against its major rivals in Asian trading Wednesday, continuing its momentum from the previous session and getting an edge from buoyant stock markets. The dollar index (DXY 81.49, +0.10, +0.12%) , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 81.471, from 81.379 in late North American trading Tuesday. Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar (CUR_USDYEN 93.9700, +0.2100, +0.2240%) rose to 93.96 yen, from 93.83 yen late Tuesday. Most Asian stock markets were higher Wednesday, making investors less risk averse, and lower-yielding currencies -- such as the yen -- less appealing, analysts said. "The Asian session saw an improvement in risk appetite, with equity markets pushing ahead, which added weight" on the Japanese currency, said analysts at Action Economics. The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3385, -0.0008, -0.0597%) fell to $1.3383 from $1.3398 late Tuesday and the British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.5207, -0.0056, -0.3669%) slipped to $1.5248 from $1.5276. On Tuesday, the dollar stayed higher versus the euro and other major currencies after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting said officials pegged their "extended period" pledge for low rates to the evolution of the economy, not a period of time. See Tuesday's Currencies report.

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