-- Dollar slightly lower against yen after hitting nine-month high on Friday -- Analysts say dollar's rising trend may stay intact as U.S. jobs data eyed -- Euro pressured by renewed concern over euro-zone debt crisis By Alexander Martin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TOKYO (Dow Jones)--The dollar sagged against the yen in Asia on Monday after reaching a nine-month high at the end of last week, but market participants say the greenback's rising trend could stay intact as upcoming data are expected to show further signs of a U.S. economic recovery. Friday's non-farm payrolls data is expected to show that the U.S. added 210,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate forecast to remain unchanged at 8.3%, according to the average estimate in a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires. Analysts say that could drive further gains in the dollar against the yen due to reduced expectations for another round of U.S. quantitative easing. "The dollar may test last May's high of around Y82.20-Y82.30 in the short term," said Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities. "It's still clearly riding on an upward trend," he said. Recent weak Japanese economic data are also helping to support the greenback against its Japanese counterpart. The country's consumer price index fell 0.1% in January, an indication that deflationary pressures continue to hurt the economy. Sumino Kamei, a senior analyst at the Bank Of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, said that the greenback could still decline later in the global day if a U.S. February ISM non-manufacturing report at 1500 GMT shows signs of weakness. As of 0450 GMT, the dollar was at Y81.61 from Y81.79 late Friday in New York, according to trading platform EBS. The greenback hit a nine-month high of Y81.87 on Friday. The euro, meanwhile, faced downward pressure on Monday as euro-zone sovereign debt worries were rekindled after the Spanish government raised its budget-deficit target to 5.8% of GDP for 2012 compared to a previous target of 4.4%. "News of Spain going back on its pledge raised renewed concern over the future of the euro-zone's finances," BTMU's Kamei said. The euro was at $1.3201 from $1.3198 on Friday, and at Y107.73 from Y107.96. Also on Monday, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao lowered the nation's economic growth target to 7.5% for this year from last year's growth of 9.2%, after keeping it unchanged for seven years at 8%. The move, which had been widely expected, had little immediate effect on the foreign exchange markets. Other than the U.S. jobs data, the market's focus this week will be on Thursday's deadline for banks to sign up in the Greek private sector involvement offer, and Friday's expected conference call of euro-zone finance ministers to sign off on the Greek bailout. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. dollar against a basket of currencies, was at about 79.402 from about 79.434. -By Alexander Martin, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2783; alexander.martin@dowjones.com

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