The dollar extended its month-long rally on Friday, hitting a four-month high versus the yen on hopes for strong US jobs data later in the day and on growing speculation that Japan would continue intervening in the market.
The dollar rose as high as 111.43 yen up from around 111.05 yen late in New York on Thursday, probing fresh four-month peaks for the fourth consecutive day. It is now nearly six percent above 3-1/2-year lows set last month.
Dealers suspect the Bank of Japan intervened intermittently from around 110.50 on Thursday, raising concerns that Japan might be determined to prevent the dollar's recovery from faltering.
"When the dollar was struggling at lower levels, people blindly sold it on the assumption that the Japanese authorities would not continue intervening once the dollar bounced a little.
But people aren't so sure anymore," said Junya Tanase, currency strategist at J.P. Morgan Chase in Tokyo.
The dollar was at 111.16/21 yen. The euro was stuck in tight ranges at $1.2213/17 compared with $1.2198/04 in late US trade, after seesaw trading on Thursday when the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected.
Traders said the much-awaited US payroll figures, due today, would likely be a key factor for whether the dollar continues its bull run and tests next resistance around 112 yen and a three-month peak of $1.2055 versus the euro.
"The jobs data will be crucial for the dollar," said Kenji Kobayashi, senior manager of the foreign exchange and treasury division at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
He said the dollar would likely continue moving upward if non-farm payrolls came in above 200,000 but if the figure turns out lower than 100,000, the US currency could come under "very strong" selling pressure.