The dollar edged down in Asia on Thursday as dealers await the outcome of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting expected to result in further easing measures to boost the world's biggest economy.
The greenback bought 77.70 yen in Tokyo trade against 77.84 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The euro - which jumped after a German court Wednesday ruled the eurozone's permanent bailout fund was legal - rose to $1.2925 from $1.2899 in New York and to 100.46 yen from 100.42 yen.
The Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting was to wrap up later Thursday with the expectation that the bank will announce a new round of bond-buying known as quantitative easing, which would see a flood of dollars hit the market.
"The countdown to tonight's FOMC decision is set to keep trading subdued on Thursday amid a non-descript domestic calendar," National Australia Bank said in a note.
Currency markets were also eyeing Spain to see if Madrid taps a new European Central Bank bond-buying program aimed at bringing down borrowing costs for debt-hit members of the 17-nation eurozone.
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times )
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today )
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a broker of Thai females for violating immigration laws by employing the women as masseuses. (Tokyo Reporter )
The parents of a nightclub worker killed in an arson fire three years ago filed a suit in the Nagoya District Court on Monday seeking damages against top members of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. (Tokyo Reporter )
Kyodo News said Monday that it has dismissed Satoshi Kondo, 51, deputy chief of its general administration bureau and former personnel affairs division chief, for meeting individually with a female student searching for a job and doing an inappropriate act.
(Jiji Press )
Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter)
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )