The dollar inched up against the yen on Wednesday in quiet trading dominated by investor caution before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's much-anticipated testimony on the U.S. economy. Bernanke is expected to offer a solid of the economy when he appears before the House Financial Services Committee later in the day, followed by testimony at the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Such an assessment would bode well for the dollar's interest rate advantage to keep widening against the yen and the euro, traders said. "The dollar is supported by expectations Bernanke will make remarks similar in their hawkishness to those made by other Fed officials," said Kaoru Kondo, chief forex analyst at Fisco. Recent comments from Fed officials and solid economic data have reinforced a market view that the new central bank chief will take up the baton of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, and keep fighting inflation, traders said. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, a voting member of the central bank's rate-setting committee, said late on Tuesday that the economy was growing solidly and the rise in U.S. core inflation demanded close attention. That came in the wake of similar upbeat comments on U.S. growth from Greenspan at a series of private events last week. "The market's expectations are for Bernanke to make comments positive for the dollar," said a dealer at a Japanese trust bank. "But with such expectations already factored into the market, there is risk the dollar may face selling after the event." Data released on Tuesday showing U.S. retail sales excluding automobiles rose at the quickest pace in six years in January also fueled expectations that U.S. interest rates will keep rising, traders said. Many in the market expect the Fed to keep raising rates to 5 percent by mid-year after lifting overnight rates by 25 basis points to 4.5 percent last month, the 14th straight rise since mid-2004. By 0530 GMT, the dollar was buying 117.60 yen, up from around 117.40 yen in late New York trade. Dealers said the dollar's upside was capped, with exporters showing selling interest around 117.80-90 yen. The euro was up a tad at $1.1920 but not far from the six-week low of $1.1859 struck on electronic trading platform EBS on Tuesday. The euro was buying 140.15 yen, up from around 139.90 yen, with traders seeing strong resistance around 140.60-65 yen