Dollar lower in Asia

TOKYO: The dollar drifted lower in Asia Thursday as upbeat US data and dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen suggested the central bank would hold steady on the pace of its stimulus tapering.

In Tokyo midday trade, the greenback slipped to 101.99 yen from 102.25 yen in New York on Wednesday.

The euro rose to $1.3841 from $1.3815, while it weakened to 141.16 yen from 141.28 yen.

A pair of official reports for March, on home construction and industrial output, lifted sentiment while the Fed said in its Beige Book report that the US economy was showing clear signs of picking up again after being caught by a severe winter freeze.

"Economic activity increased in most regions" of the country since the early March report, it said, with "modest or moderate" expansion in most of the Fed regions surveyed.

The report will be used in the bank´s next policy meeting on April 29-30, where policy makers will decide what to do with its multibillion-dollar stimulus programme. The Fed has been reeling in the scheme as the world´s biggest economy slowly recovers.