Investing.com - The firmer dollar rose to one-week highs against the yen on Thursday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year. USD/JPY hit 97.83 during late Asian trade, the highest since October 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 97.64, gaining 0.29%. The pair was likely to find support at 96.81, Wednesday’s low and near-term resistance at 98.07, the high of October 2. The minutes from the Fed’s September meeting said the decision not to begin tapering stimulus was a "close call," fuelling expectations that the bank will begin to roll back bond purchases in the next few months. The dollar was also boosted after President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to head the U.S. central bank, easing uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy. Investors remained wary as a partial U.S. government shutdown continued into a tenth day, with Congress still deadlocked over the U.S. debt ceiling and the federal budget. Later Thursday, House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Obama since the shutdown began. President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the borrowing limit and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place. The U.S. risks a sovereign debt default if the government borrowing limit is not raised by 17 October. Elsewhere, the yen was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY rising 0.17% to 131.88. The European Central Bank was to publish its monthly bulletin later Thursday, while the Bank of England was to announce its benchmark interest rate.

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