The dollar hovered near a 17-month low against the yen on Wednesday after taking a fresh knock overnight on comments by Japan's prime minister which suggested that authorities were cautious towards arresting the yen's appreciation. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Wall Street Journal that countries should avoid seeking to weaken their currencies with "arbitrary intervention."

Amid earlier turmoil in the global markets, the yen has advanced steadily this year due to its safe-haven status and more recently on expectations that the Federal Reserve would not hike interest rates as aggressively this year as initially anticipated.

The dollar has lost more than one percent against the yen so far this week, and appears on track to post its third weekly loss in four.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of $1.1385-00

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in the range of $1.4250-75

USD/JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell to Y110.75

Based on Reuters materials