Yen higher in Asia, China data eyed

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China's consumer price index rose 5.4 per cent year-on-year in March -- the fastest pace since July 2008 and well above the government's 2011 target of four per cent -- and 5.0 per cent in the first quarter.

The dollar fell to 83.42 yen from 83.64 yen Thursday. The euro was at 120.74 yen, down from 121.26 yen.

Gross domestic product in the world's second-largest economy expanded 9.7 per cent on-year in the first three months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said -- beating Dow Jones Newswires' estimate of 9.5 per cent.

"The Chinese economy is not slowing as planned or desired. Inflation remains stubbornly high," said Alistair Thornton, an analyst at IHS Global Insight.

The commodity-sensitive Australian dollar showed little movement following the data, at around $1.0537 from $1.0540 overnight.

Japan's finance minister said Group of Seven nation officials in Washington agreed on the importance of combating "disorderly movement" or "excess volatility" in the currency market, after last month's joint intervention to weaken the yen.

The agreement came after Yoshiko Noda asked G7 nations to cooperate on currency issues, indicating they could jointly step into the foreign exchange market again if excessive yen movements were deemed a threat to Japan's economy.

The euro remained within a tight range against the dollar at $1.4473, down from $1.4486 late Thursday.

The single currency rose Thursday after French finance minister Christine Lagarde told reporters that no talks were under way about restructuring Greece's debt following earlier speculation.

Mixed US economic news gave no leads to the greenback, National Australia Bank's John Kyriakopoulos said.

Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped in the latest week to 412,000 from 385,000 compared to a consensus forecast of 380,000 "which was a bit of a setback to expectations of an improving US jobs market," he said.