The U.S. dollar firmed against the yen on Friday as traders locked in profits following better-than-forecast economic growth data from Japan. The dollar rose to 118.64 yen from 117.91 yen late Thursday, while the euro fell to $1.1875 from $1.1912 late Thursday. Japanese GDP rose a better-than-forecast 5.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. "While the overall composition of growth was good, the headline number was perhaps not sufficiently strong to drive a sustained rally in the yen just yet," said UBS analyst Ashley Davies. "Finance Minister (Sadakazu) Tanigaki said this morning the Bank of Japan should make a careful policy decision based not only the data, but the overall situation, which is the government's way of saying the central bank should go slow on ending quantitative easing," he added. On the U.S. data front, wholesale inflation in the United States probably moderated in January, with the producer price index rising 0.2%, economists surveyed by MarketWatch say. Core prices -- which exclude by definition food and energy costs -- also grew by 0.2%, they say. February consumer sentiment data, due out after the market open, is seen easing to 91.1 from 91.2.