Dollar Mixed on Yen Intervention, ECB Comment

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading on Friday as the Japanese government intervened to prevent the yen's appreciation and the expectations of an interest rate hike in the eurozone were raised by the European Central Bank chief's comment.

The Bank of Japan was seen stepping in the currency market to sell the yen versus the dollar aggressively, after the Group of Seven nations agreed to take steps to curb the Japanese currency's recent surge.

The dollar rebounded strongly back to above 80 against the yen on Friday, from a record low of 76.32 a day ago.

Meanwhile, the euro gained sharply against the dollar as Jean- Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, said there was no new message to deliver on monetary policy, implying that the possible interest rate hike in the eurozone would not be affected by the recent disaster in Japan.

Trichet had delivered a strong hint of an April rate hike earlier this month, but the Japan earthquake raised concern that the central bank might postpone its plan. His comment on Friday eased investors' worry and bolstered the euro.

In late Friday trading, the dollar bought 80.96 yen, comparing with 79.05 late Thursday, and the euro rose to 1.4159 dollars from 1.4007.

The British pound also rose to 1.6219 dollars from 1.6136. The dollar rose from 0.9002 to 0.9017 against the Swiss franc, but fell to 0.9861 Canadian dollars from 0.9871.