Dollar Climbs vs. Yen as Wall Street Rises

Higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar and Norwegian crown also gained, benefiting from a generally upbeat tone in financial markets.

"There's a slight uptick in risk appetite despite the weak data and that's why we have seen...dollar/yen gain a little bit," said Matt Kassel, director of FX trading at ING Capital Markets in New York.

Both the dollar and the yen typically rise when investors turn risk averse and slip when risk appetite rises. But dealers said the dollar was gaining at the expense of the yen on Thursday after weakening against the Japanese currency earlier this week.

The euro [EUR-TN 1.4127 0.0184 (+1.32%) ], which tends to prosper as investors turn more optimistic, rose against the yen and was up slightly against the dollar.

In midday New York trading, the euro was around $1.3605, recovering from session lows at $1.3526. The euro has risen about 5 percent against the dollar since April 20, when it hit a roughly one-month low. link....