Dollar stalls

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TOKYO: The dollar stood tall in Asia on Friday, on track for weekly gains against a currency basket, after upbeat U.S. economic data gave investors reason to hope the U.S. central bank will stick with its plan to hike rates.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, added 0.1 percent to 97.491, and was up 0.6 percent for the week.

The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 111.18 yen, on track to gain 1.1 percent for the week. It ticked up to a session high of 111.27 yen, its highest since June 2, after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as expected, before quickly paring its gain.

The BOJ also upgraded its assessment of private consumption and overseas growth, signalling its confidence that an export-driven economic recovery was broadening and gaining momentum. Investors awaited a news conference at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT)with BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who is expected to reassure markets that the central bank was in no hurry to follow the Federal Reserve´s tapering example, according to sources familiar with BOJ thinking.

"With the BOJ, there were no big surprises there," said Mitul Kotecha, head of Asia macro strategy for Barclays in Singapore.