The US dollar stayed near its session lows in late Asian dealings with trade thin going into the US Independence Day holiday, dealers said. The dollar began the Asian session almost flat from its US afternoon closing levels, around Y114.70 against the yen with euro-dollar at $1.2800 with overall trade flows subdued because of Tuesday's US holiday. Early dollar-yen selling from Y114.75 pushed the pair lower into the Tokyo fixing and the drop accelerated when the market got wind of comments by Japan's Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano, which appeared to support the Bank of Japan's plan to raise interest rates. Yosano told a regular news conference that while conditions for the first rate hike by the BOJ in six years may "have not been met," they are in the process of "falling into place," media reports said. Dollar-yen fell to Y114.40 but rebounded toward Y114.70 after Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki entered the fray by repeating his ministry's view that the BOJ should maintain its zero rate policy to support the economy. But dollar-yen resumed its downtrend in the Asian afternoon as players pared back positions and drifted to the morning lows toward Y114.40. "Dollar-yen is looking at downside risks towards Y110.00 again after closing the gap between Y115.96 and Y116.52," Philip Wee, market strategist at DBS Bank wrote in a research note. Euro-dollar meanwhile stayed between $1.2793 and $1.2800 through the early part of the morning and pushed higher in the afternoon although it has struggled to hold on to gains beyond $1.2810. There has been speculation of large sell orders in the $1.2840 to $1.2850 region and the market seems reluctant to test those before today's US holiday. Beyond the Tuesday holiday, market players have a slew of data and events to deal with through the rest of the week, including Friday's US non-farm payroll release, which should keep sentiment cautious. According to a Market News survey, nonfarm payrolls are expected to rise 175,000 in June after a weak 75,000 gain in May. In addition to US data, there is a host of central bank meetings including the Reserve Bank of Australia Wednesday, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank on Thursday.