At noon, the U.S. dollar fetched 89.84-86 yen versus 90.02-03 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Market participants in New York were mostly away for the Veterans Day holiday.

The euro traded at $1.5002-5003 and 134.79-82 yen against $1.5008- 5010 and 135.11-15 yen late Wednesday.

Sentiment about the U.S. dollar remained weak as investors are seeking higher returns in shares, commodities and other currencies such as the euro, dealers said. Gold prices hit an all-time record high overnight in New York.

The dollar fell against the yen in the morning, but stayed in a tight range amid a dearth of fresh trading cues for the currency pair, they added.

"With (global) economic conditions improving and commodities prices also up, the dollar is weakening," said Masashi Hashimoto, a senior analyst of the global markets sales and trading division at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

"Besides an ample supply of dollars in the market (as part of emergency measures), the dollar's key currency role has also been undermined," he said. "But the dollar-yen pair is in a tight range as both the dollar and the yen tend to be sold for other (higher- yielding) currencies."

Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said employment rose 24,500 in October from September, boosting investor confidence in the global economy. The number was above the average market forecast of minus 10,000.

After the data, the dollar came under pressure against both the Australian dollar and the higher-yielding euro, dealers said.

The euro was around the psychologically important $1.5 line, although its further rise was capped ahead of the release Friday of euro zone gross domestic product data for the July to September period.