The U.S. dollar was steady against the yen in Asian trading Friday as traders hesitated to lift the currency further after its recent sharp ascent, while the euro rebounded on positive news from the European Central Bank. The dollar was trading at 114.57 yen in Tokyo midafternoon, down 0.25 yen from late Thursday but above the 114.37 yen it bought in New York later that day. It climbed to a 17-month high of 114.85 yen Thursday. "The dollar has been overbought so I think it's hard for it to rise any further for now," said Tetsu Aikawa, vice president of foreign exchange trading at UFJ Bank. The euro recovered from a week that saw it drop several times below the $1.20 mark. The 12-nation currency bought $1.2023 in early trading Friday, up from $1.1989 in New York late Thursday. In monthly remarks released Thursday, the ECB said despite high oil prices in the euro zone, the bank was still counting on the economy to pick up in the second half of 2005. "For the full year of 2005 we expect the gross domestic product to increase by nearly 1 percent," the bank The British pound also strengthened against the dollar, buying $1.7569, up from $1.7538 in New York. The market is now awaiting the release later in the session of the U.S. consumer price data for September for signs that economic conditions are solid for the Fed to keep raising interest rates. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires on average forecast the consumer price index to rise 0.9 percent in September after a 0.5 percent increase in August. A faster-than-expected rise in prices may help push the dollar higher, traders said.