Dollar traded narrowly against yen, euro in Asia

The dollar traded narrowly against the yen and euro in Asia on Monday amid a mixed bag of US data that failed to give a clear picture of the health of the worlds biggest economy.The dollar fetched 83.42 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, almost unchanged from late Friday in New York.The euro bought $1.3168, down from $1.3175 in New York. Against the Japanese unit, the euro briefly topped 110 yen for the first time since October before easing slightly to 109.86 yen, against 109.82 yen in New York.On Friday, the dollar slipped against a string of major currencies on the mixed data.The drop will likely herald a cautious start to the week and intense interest on speeches from Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley and Fed chief Ben Bernanke later in the week, National Australia Bank said in a note Monday.Market players are also waiting for a string of US housing data later in the week after a batch of figures last week dampened hopes that the US economic recovery was gaining strength.The dollar was likely to find firm support around the 82.00-83.00 yen mark and could test 85 yen this week if the data show better-than-expected results, said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Barclays Capital.Such a case will reinforce the scenario of decreasing downside risks in the US economy, Yamamoto told Dow Jones Newswires.US data last week showed a pickup in inflation in February driven by high petrol prices, while there was only modest growth in manufacturing for the past two months while consumer confidence unexpectedly fell. But new claims for US unemployment benefits were down more than expected.The economy created 227,000 new jobs in February, topping the 200,000 mark for the third straight month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent, the Labor Department reported earlier this month.The dollar was mixed against other Asian currencies.It fell to Sg$1.2579 in Tokyo afternoon trade from Sg$1.2606 Friday, and to 1,123.35 South Korean won from 1,123.60 won, while it firmed to 42.96 Philippine pesos from 42.90 pesos and to 9,172.25 Indonesian rupiah from 9,172.00 rupiah.It was barely unchanged at Tw$29.51 and 30.69 Thai baht, compared with Tw$29.50 and 30.68 baht Friday.