SINGAPORE, Feb. 25 (MNI) - The US dollar held a mixed tone as the Asian session wound down Friday, holding slight gains on the yen but lower against the euro, as risk sentiment found some solace amid a pullback in oil prices. After jumping to two-and-a-half year highs in recent days, oil prices eased back amid speculation that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi may have either been injured or had fled the country, coupled with assurances from Saudi Arabia, the world's key oil producer, that it would ensure adequate supplies. That helped soothe market jitters to some extent, though some dealers also attributed the calmer market sentiment to consolidative activities before the start of the weekend. "Oil prices should remain firm as tensions in the Middle East are unlikely to abate soon," commented United Overseas Bank analysts. "Within the FX space, continued fears of an oil supply shock are seen keeping the safe-haven currencies like Swiss franc and yen bid." Crude oil futures for delivery in April were up $0.63 at $97.91 a barrel in the late afternoon here, after crude prices rose to a 29-month high of $103.41 per barrel overnight. Euro-dollar traded with modest gains since the early morning, edging past last night's $1.3821 high to $1.3824. The pair then broke above a rumored $1.3825 option barrier, for a $1.3837 morning high, before easing back to around $1.3820 amid some consolidation, up from $1.3805 overnight in the U.S. Dollar-yen took its early trading cues from movements in yen crosses, climbing back up to a high of Y82.05 after opening near Y81.90 this morning. Dollar-yen pulled back after that in line with yen crosses, which then saw the pair pushed back down to around Y81.88 in the late morning. The pair continued to hover near there through the afternoon, compared with around Y81.82 near the New York close overnight. In other currencies, the New Zealand dollar rose to a high of $0.7520 earlier this morning as it continued its slow recovery in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Christchurch, which has so far killed 113 people, with more fatalities expected. Dealers said the kiwi pulled back briefly to around $0.7484 around mid-morning on fresh rumors the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was planning an emergency meeting to discuss cutting official interest rates. In the late afternoon, the New Zealand currency was back up at $0.7520, after recovering to a $0.7527 high. "Rumors of an 'emergency' RBNZ meeting and a reduction of the cash rate by 50bps have gathered a lot of momentum in the last 24 hours," commented Annette Beacher, Head of Asia-Pacific Research at TD Securities. "Despite intense pressure to sanction current market pricing, our view remains that the RBNZ 'should' hold its ground, drop the tightening bias, and offer a dovish communique that hints at easing if the economy turns further for the worse." Australian and NZ media outlets said RBNZ officials have declined to comment on the speculation but some market watchers said the chances are rising that the bank would indeed lower interest rates at its next meeting on March 10. Looking ahead, traders remained doubtful that Friday's Q4 U.S. GDP revisions would affect markets in any way, with attention focused squarely on happenings in the Middle East and North Africa. Several countries in the region, including Bahrain and Yemen, are bracing for fresh protests later Friday, even as violence continued in Libya. For the U.S., Q2 GDP is expected to be revised up to 3.4% from the 3.2% advance reading, with estimates ranging from +3.2% to +3.6%. Earlier, Market News International's China Business sentiment survey showed tightening credit conditions caused slightly more deterioration in business conditions at Chinese companies in February, though expectations strengthened that the good times will return in the coming months. The overall current business conditions index fell modestly for a fifth straight month, to 58.21 in February from 61.11 in January and 62.08 in December. The index was 70.44 a year ago.

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