By Hiroyuki Kachi 
 

The dollar gained against the yen during Asia trade Monday, lifted by dip buying and an improvement in risk sentiment on the recovery by Tokyo stocks.

Around 0450 GMT, the dollar rose to Y117.34 from Y116.97 late Friday in New York. The greenback also strengthened against the euro, which declined to $1.1131 from $1.1153.

The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.1% at 89.91.

Having hit a two-week low of Y116.28 Friday after a mixture of good and bad spots in the U.S. jobs data for January, the greenback ratcheted up in rangebound Asia trade in a sign that Japanese importers and others were buying the dollar on dips earlier in the morning session.

Although nonfarm payrolls grew at a pace lower than economists' consensus, the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level since February 2008 and average hourly earnings climbed in what may give the Federal Reserve a little more support for raising interest rates this year.

Sentiment improved as Tokyo stocks erased earlier losses to turn into positive territory, resulting in selling of the yen because of its perceived safety. The Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.8% midday.

"Investors will gradually sit on the sidelines to see what comments Federal Reserve (Chairwoman Janet) Yellen will make at congressional testimony in the middle of the week," said Yuzo Sakai, manager of FX business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow. "We see the dollar is now back in a good position," he said.

But "we will end up seeing a rangebound trade, unless something happens to lessen the mood of risk aversion," such as gains in stocks or oil prices, said Mr. Sakai.

The market showed muted reaction to a summary of opinions among Bank of Japan policy setters released Monday about the decision at a Jan. 28-29 policy meeting to set a minus 0.1% interest rate on some yen deposits held by commercial banks at the BOJ.

The summary underlined a deep internal rift over the negative interest rate policy introduced last month, with opponents warning that it could spark a rate-cut "competition" with overseas central banks.

In other currency trade pairs, the euro rose to Y130.59 from Y130.45.

 
 
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT 
 
                           Latest       Previous   %Chg    Daily    Daily   %Chg 
Dollar Rates                               Close            High      Low  12/31 
 
USD/JPY Japan           117.34-35      116.87-88  +0.40   117.35   116.87  -2.45 
EUR/USD Euro            1.1131-34      1.1156-59  -0.22   1.1158   1.1129  +2.50 
GBP/USD U.K.            1.4513-15      1.4501-03  +0.08   1.4517   1.4502  -1.51 
USD/CHF Switzerland     0.9937-41      0.9905-09  +0.32   0.9943   0.9907  -0.81 
USD/CAD Canada          1.3884-89      1.3915-20  -0.22   1.3918   1.3884  +0.35 
AUD/USD Australia       0.7086-90      0.7067-71  +0.27   0.7105   0.7069  -2.73 
NZD/USD New Zealand     0.6636-42      0.6623-29  +0.20   0.6643   0.6626  -2.84 
 
Euro Rate 
 
EUR/JPY Japan           130.60-64      130.39-43  +0.16   130.68   130.31  -0.13 
 
Source: Tullett Prebon 
 

Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2016 00:43 ET (05:43 GMT)