SINGAPORE, Aug. 27 (MNI) - The U.S. dollar ended in Asia mixed Friday, holding near session highs against the yen on fears of yen intervention while the euro was also near its best levels for the session ahead of the weekend. In late Asian trade, dollar-yen was at Y84.75, near the top of its Y84.27 to Y84.78 range, and up from around Y84.45 traded near the U.S. close overnight. The pair had been languishing near the low end of its narrow Asian ranges through much of the morning, holding near Y84.30/35 after easing back from opening levels near Y84.37. Jitters about possible intervention by Japanese authorities to counter the yen's gains have generally kept players from being overly bullish on the Japanese unit after it marked 15-year highs against the dollar and a 9-year peak versus the euro this week. "We think the risk of direct intervention in the foreign exchange market to stem yen gains remains relatively low, if only because there are some fairly obvious practical impediments to ensuring success," strategists at TD Securities said in a report. The pair clawed back a few points after Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Naoto Kan had called a press briefing to outline what the government would do to deal with the yen's surge. That briefing has since been denied by the government's chief spokesman, although the effect on foreign exchange market was clear with dollar-yen climbing back to the morning high. "The yen has been unable to get back onto Y85 despite stronger rhetoric from politicians calling for intervention," commented analysts at LGT Bank. Euro-dollar meanwhile was at $1.2715 in late Asian trade, after marking a $1.2692 to $1.12732 range, barely changed from around $1.2718 near the New York close overnight. The pair had been in focus early this morning, amid an otherwise subdued session, but spent several hours holding near $1.2710, just about where it had started the day. A clear-cut close above the 55-day (at $1.2715) and the 100-day (at $1.2739) would go a long way to support budding bullish euro sentiment, traders said. Given renewed eurozone peripheral debt jitters this week, the market maintained a bias to sell euros on rallies, they said. Attention has also been on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's opening remarks at the annual Jackson Hole symposium later tonight. "Macroeconomic Challenges: The Decade Ahead" is the topic for this year's Jackson Hole conference. Bernanke's speech (10:00 am EDT) will come just after the 8:30 am EDT release of preliminary US Q2 GDP, which is expected to be revised lower (median estimates at +1.3% - range +1.0% to +1.5%), from the advance reading of +2.4% and the +3.7% seen in Q1. "The last thing the market wants is Bernanke telling them things will get worse (no matter how temporary) before they get better," commented DBS Bank analysts. "The market has essentially painted itself into a binomial position," the analysts added. "If Bernanke hints of QE2, the stocks would rally and bonds will reflect the accompanying risk, with the dollar and yen taking a tumble. If the Fed is seen as seeking to reassure and not insuring, equities will tumble with bonds and the dollar staying as safe havens."

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