Dollar Rises from 7-Month Low Against Yen

The dollar rose from a seven-month low against the Japanese yen in Asian trading on Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, edged up to 99.6, nearing a flat week.

The dollar touched a seven-month low of 141.62 yen in early trading before recovering to 142.61 after Japanese Economy Minister Ryusei Akazawa said the exchange rate issue was not discussed during trade talks in Washington.

The euro fell slightly to $1.1362, but is on track for its fourth straight weekly gain, even as the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points later today. The Swiss franc recorded the highest gains among the currencies of the world’s ten largest economies, rising 8% since April 2 and trading at 0.8167 against the dollar, close to testing resistance at a decade-high of 0.81.

The British pound held steady at $1.3216, weighed down by weaker-than-expected inflation data on Wednesday.

The Australian dollar fell 0.4% to $0.6343.