By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar edged down against its Japanese counterpart in Asia trading Friday, as investors adjusted positions ahead of a Japanese national holiday Monday.
The dollar slipped to 88.86 yen from 89.05 Japanese yen in late North American trading on Thursday. Markets in Tokyo will close Monday for Labor Day.
The euro was buying $1.4906, slightly down from $1.4916 late Thursday.
Currency markets had a muted reaction to the Bank of Japan's upgrade to its view of the nation's economic outlook.
The central bank unanimously left its overnight call-rate target at 0.1% as widely expected. See full story on Bank of Japan.
The Japanese government also issued a report Friday that declared the economy officially in deflation for the first time since 2006. The BOJ said last month that it expects prices -- as measured by the core consumer-price index -- to drop over the next three years.
On Thursday, the dollar gained ground versus the euro and other currencies as weak U.S. economic data led investors to step away from risky assets such as stocks and to seek the relative safety of the greenback. See Thursday's Currencies report.
