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The dollar was almost flat against the yen and the euro in directionless Asia trade Thursday, with disappointing U.S. retail sales data overnight keeping a lid on any strong gains in the greenback. But the U.S. currency's downside was well supported from dip buying from Japanese corporate investors.

The New Zealand dollar was sharply higher after getting an overnight lift from a weaker U.S. dollar and after strong domestic retail sales numbers. It got another good boost from New Zealand's first-quarter retail sales data, he said. Retail spending beat expectations to rise strongly in the first quarter, driven by a sharp increase in sales of electrical and electronic goods retailing. The volume of real retail sales in the first quarter rose 2.7% from the prior quarter. When the effect of price changes is included, adjusted retail sales rose 1.7% in the first quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand on Thursday. The median forecasts in a Wall Street Journal poll of 10 economists was for rises of 1.6% and 1.0%, respectively.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair rose to $ 1.1375

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair was trading in the $ 1.5725-55

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range Y119.10-35