Dollar climbs on US growth hope

TOKYO: The dollar clawed its way up in Asian trade Wednesday as upbeat US data outweighed concerns over possible military action in Syria.

The greenback fetched 99.76 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade against 99.54 yen Tuesday in New York, where the US unit rose to a one-month high close to 100 yen.

"The bias is on the upside, but there are selling orders below 100 yen acting as resistance," Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The euro bought $1.3165 and 131.25 yen compared with $1.3170 and 131.14 yen in US trade.

Fresh numbers from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday showed the US manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in August.

It suggested the economy may be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back its bond-buying programme, known as quantitative easing (QE), as early as this month.