By MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) - The dollar slipped against its major rivals in Asian trading Thursday, though its losses against the yen were limited by the prospect that Japan could take direct steps to stem its currency's recent rise. The dollar (USDYEN 84.5300, -0.0500, -0.0591%) bought 84.65 yen, down from ¥84.80 in late North American trading Wednesday but still above a 15-year low hit earlier this week. The euro (EURYEN 107.4500, +0.3700, +0.3455%) rose to ¥107.79 from ¥107.27. The head of the Bank of Japan will attend the Kansas City Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., later this week, and investors parsed the implications for the currency market. Read preview of Jackson Hole symposium. BoJ Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa's plan to attend the conference "heightened market attention on the possibility of Japanese action, after Gov. Shirakawa will have an opportunity to speak" to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other central bankers," said analysts at Action Economics. "At the same time, some argue the central bank is unlikely to hold an emergency policy meeting in his absence," they said. Also keeping yen gains in check was news that Ichiro Ozawa, the former secretary-general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, will challenge Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party election next month, throwing Japan's political outlook into uncertainty. See full story on Ozawa's challenge. The euro (EURUSD 1.2711, +0.0051, +0.4028%) turned higher, buying $1.2732 compared with $1.2651 late Wednesday. The British pound (GBPUSD 1.5532, +0.0063, +0.4072%) also turned higher against the dollar, buying $1.5565 compared with $1.5445. The dollar index (DXY 82.93, -0.33, -0.40%) , which measures the buck against a basket of currencies, traded at 82.891, down from 83.298 late Wednesday. On Wednesday, the dollar retook ground against the yen but stayed lower against the euro as U.S. stocks turned up after being weighed by softer-than-predicted economic data. See Wednesday's Currencies report.

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