The yen hovered in the upper 143 range against the U.S. dollar early Friday in Tokyo as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks the previous day suggesting further interest rate hikes failed to surprise the market.
At 9 a.m., the dollar fetched 143.87-88 yen compared with 144.06-16 yen in New York and 143.81-83 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The euro was quoted at $1.0008-0012 and 143.99-144.05 yen against $0.9993-1.0003 and 144.02-12 yen in New York and $0.9981-9983 and 143.54-58 yen in Tokyo late Thursday afternoon.
Japanese stocks opened higher, gaining support from overnight gains on Wall Street.
In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 145.97 points, or 0.52 percent, from Thursday to 28,211.25. The broader Topix index was up 7.26 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,964.88.
On the top-tier Prime Market, gainers were led by service, pharmaceutical, and precision instrument issues.
