FOREX-Dollar holds ground; yen soft as stocks up

The yen was on the back foot against higher-yielding currencies as rising stocks and commodity markets encouraged a pick-up in risk-taking on Wednesday, while the dollar broadly held its ground.

Traders and analysts in Japan were still chewing over steps by the central bank the previous day to attack deflationary pressures, which left many disappointed, and were keen to hear the outcome of a meeting between Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa expected later. >>