The US dollar was lower against the yen and little changed against the euro in thin trading in the early afternoon here, with market players hesitant to take new positions because of a holiday in the US today and the release last week of a mixed set of US data, dealers said. Dealers said the release here today of the results of the government's quarterly survey of corporate behavior confirmed that corporate activity was sturdy, offering some support for the yen. The survey found that corporate capital spending rose 16.6 pct year-on-year in the quarter ended June -- the fastest rate of growth on record. "Thus, this survey should reduce anxiety about economic fundamentals in Japan which had surfaced last week," said Mitsubishi UFJ Securities forex dealer Minoru Shioiri. But the Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Friday, when its policy board concludes a two-day meeting, dealers said. Last Friday, the US Labor Department said that the US economy had added 128,000 jobs last month, largely as expected. But the US National Association of Realtors said that pending home sales slumped by 7 pct in July to their lowest level in three years. "The recent set of US data showed that the US economic growth is slowing down, for sure, but that the slowdown has not developed to the extent that it provokes fears that the US economy is slipping into a recession," said Shioiri. The euro was a softer against the yen, hit by profit-taking, dealers said. The euro had hit a record high against the yen last week on expectations that the difference between interest rates here and in the euro zone will widen. "High-yielding currencies such as the euro will continue to be in a good demand for yen-funded carry trades because of huge differentials in interest rates," Shioiri said.