The dollar suffered losses in Asian trade on Friday, with the yen hitting its highest this year as investors remained on tenterhooks ahead of central bank meetings next week.
Focus is focused on the Federal Reserve meeting and the size of its expected rate cut.
The Fed is almost certain to cut rates next week, but uncertainty over whether it will cut by 25 basis points or 50 basis points has kept investors on edge and weighed on the dollar.
Christopher Wong, currency analyst at OCBC, said Thursday's high U.S. jobless claims data helped revive bets for a big rate cut at the Fed's meeting this month, according to Reuters.
That lifted the yen to its highest since Dec. 28, at 140.645 against the dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting, where the central bank is likely to keep rates steady. The yen was last up 0.6 percent at 140.965, and is on track to rise 1 percent this week.
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