TOKYO: The yen edged lower against its major peers as markets focus the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting, which starts Thursday.
Investors are also keeping tabs on the Friday morning release of inflation, industrial production and unemployment data for hints about the health of Japan's economy.
There is growing speculation that the BoJ will be forced to ramp up its stimulus this year to light a fire under the world's number three economy, although few expect major moves on Friday.
The dollar ticked up to 118.71 yen from 118.67 yen in New York while the euro was at 129.34 yen from 129.25 yen.
The euro was unchanged at $1.0892.
The dollar was also given support after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday left the door open for more US rate hikes.
The Fed, concluding its first policy meeting since raising rates in December, said the economy slowed late last year and hinted at more worries about global weakness that has roiled global markets.
However, US policymakers said they expected inflation, weakened by the slide in oil prices, would rise toward its 2.0 percent target in the medium term, giving it room for a second rate hike in March.
"(The Fed statement) looks to be a holding operation, describing the evolution of a still expanding but recently slowing US economy, telling markets they are not blind to the risks," National Australia Bank economist David de Garis said in a commentary.
The Fed's statement was "not too dovish", Nobuo Ichikawa, chief manager of foreign exchange financial products trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp, told Bloomberg News.
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