The dollar hovered near a one-month high against the euro on Tuesday after more Federal Reserve officials talked tough on fighting inflation, reinforcing expectations for another interest rate rise later this month.
Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto said that current core consumer prices exceeded her "comfort level" if sustained, driving home the message that the Fed will keep raising rates if necessary to keep inflationary pressures contained.
Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said the central bank was experiencing "some angst" over inflation.
They were the latest in a slew of Fed officials making clear their discomfort with current inflation levels, convincing invl slowdown in the world's largest economy have rattled markets, sparking sell-offs in assets that prosper from strong global growth: stocks and commodities.
The dollar has benefited from investors fleeing those risky assets, but any signs of slowing US growth would likely push the US currency back down toward the one-year lows struck against the euro and the pound in the past month.
"The general theme in the market is a clear rise in risk aversion," said Sharada Selvanathan, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore.
"Even though the dollar is supported in the near-term, the medium- and long-term prospects are extremely negative."
The dollar changed hands at 114.55 yen, up from around 114.40 yen in late US trade on Monday and not far from a six-week high of 114.74 yen struck last week on electronic trading platform EBS.
Traders brushed off news that Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui in the late 1990s had contributed 10 million yen ($87,390) to fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami, who was arrested last week for insider trading.
One trader said that Fukui was unlikely to resign over the issue.
The euro was little changed at $1.2580, near a one-month low of $1.2565 struck the previous session. Against the Japanese currency, the euro edged up to 144.15 yen.
Some traders said the dollar would need to break above 115 yen or through $1.25 to the euro to extend its recovery.
US data on retail sales and producer prices in May, due at 1230 GMT, will be scoured to see how the economy is holding up, especially before a much-awaited consumer price index release on Wednesday that will help shape the Fed rate outlook.
Fed policymakers are also out in full force this week. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a talk on consumer issues at 1500 GMT and will take questions from the audience, the second of three public events this week.
On Thursday, Bernanke gives a speech on energy, one that will be closely watched given the run-up in energy prices and worries about inflation.
The plunge in prices of gold, copper and stocks has prompted a wide variety of investors to pull out of positions and reassess what had seemed a rosy outlook for the global economy.
Japan's Nikkei share average was down nearly 4 percent in late afternoon trading following the rout in global stocks the previous day and has tumbled as much as 18 percent from a six-year high hit in April.
"At this point, people aren't too concerned about whether they sell to take whatever profits they can or to cut losses, they just want to avoid risk," said a trader at a US brokerage.