The dollar rose to 119.40 yen late afternoon from 119.18 yen in New York Thursday while the euro slipped to 1.3135 dollars from 1.3139 dollars.

The euro was at 156.83 yen, edging up from 156.70 in New York.

The dollar had sagged overnight to five-week lows against the yen after a weaker-than-expected survey of US industrial output and news of a sharp drop in capital inflows, combined with earlier figures showing robust growth in Japan.

The Japanese figures out Thursday showed that the economy grew at its fastest pace in almost three years in the three months to December.

But many analysts considered it a one-time spurt, leaving uncertain whether the Bank of Japan would make the politically sensitive decision to increase ultra-low interest rates next week.

"The rate-hike speculation and Japanese investors repatriating proceeds from the US bond market into the yen were providing support for the yen," said Seiichi Kanazawa, client manager at Resona Bank.

"But it is difficult to make major moves today because the market is yet to fully digest the rate hike speculation and the long weekend coming up in the United States," he said.