Forex - USD/JPY holds steady near 3-week lows after BoJ minutes

The U.S. dollar held steady against the yen on Friday, hovering close to three-week lows as the minutes of the Bank of Japan's September policy meeting showed a split on whether to add further easing measures.

USD/JPY hit 107.65 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 107.79, dipping 0.04%.

The pair was likely to find support at 107.07, the low of September 17 and resistance at 108.73, the high of October 8.

The minutes of the BoJ's September 3-4 policy meeting showed that some members voiced concerns over possible adverse effects of additional stimulus measures.

These concerns raised the prospect of the first policy split vote under BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's mandate, even as the central bank head continues to emphasize his readiness to take fresh action to meet the BOJ's 2% inflation target, if needed.

On Tuesday, the BoJ left monetary policy unchanged at its policy meeting, but acknowledged that declining domestic demand as a result of a sales tax increase in April was leading to economic weakness.

Separately, official data on Friday showed that tertiary industry activity slipped 0.1% in August, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.3% fall in July.

Meanwhile, the dollar found some support after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 4 decreased by 1,000 to 287,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 288,000.

But the greenback's gains were expected to remain limited as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September 16-17 policy meeting suggested that the bank is in no hurry to raise interest rates and mentionned concerns over the dollar's strength.

The yen was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/JPY edging down 0.07% to 136.82.