U.S. dollar mixed in quiet, calm Asian holiday trade

The dollar was at 91.47 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with 91.46 in New York late Thursday. The euro firmed to 1.4385 dollars from 1.4356 and to 131.60 yen from 131.32.

“There is very little movement due to the Christmas holiday. Economic indicators in the U.S. and Japan have had little impact on market sentiment,” said Societe Generale forex strategist Kenichi Yumoto.

Against Asian currencies, the dollar fell to 1.4064 Singapore dollars from 1.4074 a day earlier, to 1,174.60 South Korean won from 1,177.50, to 9,480 Indonesian rupiah from 9,485 and to 32.25 Taiwan dollars from 32.26.

The greenback rose to 33.38 Thai baht from 33.36 while holding steady at 46.51 Philippine pesos.

Markets gave a tepid response to news that orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods edged up 0.2 percent in November, led by a strong rise in demand for computers and electronics products.

Although positive, the report was weaker than market expectations and followed disappointing data earlier this week on new U.S. home sales and consumer spending.

New U.S. claims for jobless benefits dropped to the lowest level since September 2008 but analysts said the data might have been affected by the seasonal holidays.

In Japan, the unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent in November from 5.1 percent in October, worsening for the first time in four months, the government said. But the report was in line with market expectations.

Japan's core consumer prices fell 1.7 percent in November from a year earlier, the ninth straight month of drops, fanning worries that deflation could hinder a fragile recovery in Asia's biggest economy.

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