TOKYO—The dollar maintained a generally firm tone in Asian trading while the euro trended lower Friday, with Japan's summer holiday period cutting into volume.
The dollar held onto gains overnight in New York, treading water around ¥76.85 in what would appear to be—at least temporarily—out of intervention range for Japan's Ministry of Finance. The dollar slid Thursday to ¥76.30, provoking a rate check by the Bank of Japan that pushed the currency back up.
Asked whether last week's intervention had been a success, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, "At this stage it is still too early to tell."
The Aug. 4 intervention was Japan's largest ever, judging by data released by the Bank of Japan, at around ¥4.6 trillion.
Mr. Noda said Friday the government will consider various measures if the currency's "one-sided" moves continue.
The dollar was at ¥76.80 as of 0450 GMT, from ¥76.83 late in New York trade Thursday.
The euro trended lower after, meanwhile, Asian stock markets failed to get swept up by Wall Street's strong gains overnight, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 3.95%. As of 0500 GMT, the Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.6% at 8931.24.
Some traders said moves by European regulators to ban short-selling of financial stocks had created fresh concerns about the underlying situation.
Tomohiro Nishida, senior dealer at Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking, said these are moves "they wouldn't do under ordinary circumstances."
The euro was at $1.4183, from $1.4241 late Thursday in New York, and at ¥108.87 from ¥109.29.
The market was subdued with smaller-than-normal trading volumes, especially in Tokyo where the annual late-summer holiday had begun.
Among other currencies, the U.K. pound was at $1.6198 from $1.6230. The dollar was at 0.7600 franc from 0.7620 franc.
The ICE Dollar Index was at 74.779 from 74.636.
Looking ahead, second-quarter GDP figures for France and European Union industrial production figures for June are due to be released.
Among U.S. data to watch are retail sales figures for July and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for August.
