Dollar firm

TOKYO: The dollar hovered above its recent lows against major rivals on Thursday, benefiting from the euro´s weakness and higher U.S. yields but capped by concerns about recent equity market volatility.

Against a basket of six major rival currencies, the dollar was steady on the day at 90.242, not far from Wednesday´s session high of 90.40, its highest in two weeks.

The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.2278 but remained not far from its overnight low of $1.2246 and a far cry from last month´s 3-year high of $1.2538."The euro had recently been too strong, with too many expectations about early policy normalisation of the European Central Bank, and investors are now unwinding those positions," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.

"The dollar/yen seems to be capped by uncertainty in the equity markets, which will likely keep it in a range," Yamamoto added.

"But maybe the equity market downturn won´t last for long, because the world economy is solid.

"The dollar was slightly higher on the day against its Japanese counterpart at 109.37 yen. Higher U.S. yields also underpinned the greenback.