//www.ananova.com// The dollar was slightly stronger against the yen in midafternoon trade on short-covering in the US unit after the local equity market fell, dealers said.However, they said trading was quiet and directionless given the US Labour Day holiday today, and ahead of the release of some key US data this week.US ISM data for August will be out tomorrow, while non-farm payroll figures are expected on Thursday."Because of the US holiday, trading is very quiet here. But it appears some dollar short-covering has emerged today," a dealer at a local Japanese bank said.
He said the dollar is likely to trade at a weaker tone against the yen for the time being, adding that US President George W. "Bush will definitely talk about the possibility of an attack on Iraq ahead of the anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks."
"In addition, I don't think the employment situation in the US has improved," he said.However, the dollar's downside is likely to be well-supported as US equity markets have started to regain some stability, he added.The dollar/yen is likely to trade in a range of 117.50-119.50 over the coming week, he said.The euro was rangebound against other major currencies ahead of the release of preliminary second-quarter eurozone GDP figures on Friday, dealers said.The local Japanese bank dealer said the GDP figure may show weak economic growth in the eurozone due to the lacklustre performance of the German economy.
"But there seems to be some option-linked buying of the euro supporting its downside. I think the euro will be traded solidly against the dollar for the time being," he said.The euro/dollar is likely to move in a range of 0.9750-0.9900 and the euro/yen at 115.50-116.50 over the coming week, the dealer said.

Dollar
yen 118.70 up from 118.61 118.68
sfr 1.5016 up from 1.5010 1.4980

Euro
usd 0.9802 down from 0.9807 0.9819
stg 0.6332 down from 0.6333 0.6338
yen 116.34 up from 116.32 116.52
sfr 1.4718 down from 1.4720 1.4708