The US dollar had a softer tone against the yen and euro in thin afternoon trading here as players awaited public holidays tomorrow in the US and Japan, dealers said. The dollar was at 117.52 yen, down from 117.69 yen in Sydney just over four hours earlier. The euro was at 1.2862 usd, up from 1.2858 usd in Sydney. UBS said in a currency market note: "Dwindling flows and a lack of news or data left the market exposed to rumors." Earlier in the Asian session, the dollar had been dented by an rumor that the Japanese Ministry of Finance had advised Japanese exporters to increase their dollar hedging exposures, which the market took to mean that the ministry was encouraging the selling of dollars in favor of the yen, dealers said. The rumor was unsubstantiated, but afterwards the dollar and euro managed only weak recoveries against the yen, mainly on short-covering in advance of the holidays in the US and Japan. Later this afternoon here the Japanese government will release its monthly report on the economy, and conjecture that it will downgrade its assessment could put the yen under pressure, dealers said.