The dollar was slightly lower against the yen in quiet rangebound Asian trade Wednesday, with investors reluctant to move aggressively ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The dollar was recently at Yen117.82 from Yen117.95 late Tuesday in New York.

The greenback moved in a tight range throughout Asia session ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday but its downside was well supported on dip buying.

“I don’t feel the pair will start moving later this week,” due to the lack of fresh cues, said Kyosuke Suzuki, head of FX and money market sales department at Societe Generale in Tokyo.

Mr. Suzuki said while the market has already factored in an improvement in business sentiment in the U.S., the recent fall-off in U.S. treasury yields suggests the market expectations for eventual rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are receding. And assuming that a lack of expectation for U.S. inflation remain pervasive, the dollar will likely find itself top heavy against the yen.

At the same time, however, investors still remain cautious that the Bank of Japan will likely loosen its monetary grip some time in the future, in what may give solid downside support to the U.S. currency against the yen over the mid-term.

“With both of its upside and downside being capped and given a falloff in volatility,” the dollar will likely remain between Yen117.20 and just below Yen119 later this week, said Mr. Suzuki.

Investors shrugged off comments made by a member of the BOJ policy board, Sayuri Shirai, who backed action in the narrow 5-4 policy board vote on Oct. 31 that ramped up the BOJ’s easing steps, a move that took global markets by surprise, boosting share prices and weakening the yen.

In a speech delivered to business executives in the city of Hiroshima, western Japan, Ms. Shirai said that with consumer price indicators and inflation expectations showing signs of decline, a lack of new action could have put the bank’s credibility at risk.