TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - The yen was slightly lower against the dollar in quiet midafternoon trade, following the Japanse currency's fall against the euro, dealers said. However, dealers said that the fall in the yen was limited as exporters continued to cash in their foreign exchange holdings. They added that overall, trading was very thin ahead of Japan's World Cup match with Turkey later today. Aozora Bank deputy manager of the foreign exchange trading group Hiroyoshi Kinoshita said dollar/yen will continue to trade in a narrow range, adding: "At the moment, it is very difficult to see which direction dollar/yen is going." "At the moment, investors have lost interest in buying the dollar. On the other hand, if we consider the yen's fall against the euro, I don't think that investors will turn to buy the Japanese currency that actively either," Kinoshita said. Kinoshita said that despite current weakness of the dollar, the US currency will be well-supported against the yen, due to continued intervention fears. "I expect that the dollar will start rising moderately if the solid stock market outlook in the US is confirmed, and if the US economy is able to continue growing even as the Federal Reserve moves to raise interest rates. Before this is confirmed, I think that investors will continue to be cautious in buying the dollar," he said. He said second-quarter US GDP, expected to be released at the end of July, will be the key figure for dollar/yen trading. "If the figure confirms that US economy is not as bad as anticipated, I expect that the dollar will gain strength again," Kinoshita said. "Personally, I don't think that US fundamentals are deteriorating much, if we consider continued moderate growth of retail sales and housing starts data in the US," he said. He said that he expects dollar/yen to move in a range of 123.50-126.50 for the next week. The euro was stronger against the yen in afternoon trade on short-covering, dealers said. He said that the euro will trade firmer against the yen for the time being, adding that euro/yen will move in a range of 117.00-120.00 in the next week. Kinoshita also expects the euro to trade stronger against the dollar, in a range of 0.9400-0.9600 for the next week.