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TOKYO (AFP) - The dollar was steady in Asian trade Thursday as players took a breather ahead of a raft of US data, including Friday's pivotal non-farm payrolls, dealers said.

They said the dollar was supported by the release of Federal Reserve minutes which revealed the US central bank sees signs of economic improvement.

The dollar edged up to 121.64 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 121.61 in New York late on Wednesday.

The euro was at 1.3434 dollars after 1.3429 and at 163.34 yen from 163.33.

Market players were marking time ahead of US indicators including a second estimate of first-quarter US gross domestic product figures due out later Thursday followed by the key May US jobs data on Friday.

"We don't have high expectations for US economic growth, which is not forecast to be very strong," said Hideaki Inoue, chief manager at forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp.

"But we are highly anticipating the non-farm payrolls," he said. "Dollar buying is pretty strong at the end of a month."

Market forecasts are for US jobs growth of 135,000 in May, up from 88,000 in April.

Dealers were keeping a close watch on the Chinese stock markets but concerns that Wednesday's slump might spill over into other overseas markets eased after Wall Street hit fresh record highs overnight.

"The sharp decline in the Chinese market was caused by domestic factors," said Sumitomo Trust Bank's chief forex strategist, Satoru Matsumoto.

"The subsequent gain on the New York market dispelled worries of possible risks to global markets," he said.

Mitsubishi UFJ's Inoue also played down worries about the latest selloff on the Chinese stock market which was triggered by a hike in taxes on share transactions there.

"We are not worried over the recent decline of the Chinese shares that much," he said, noting that Japanese share prices had been largely unaffected.

The euro meanwhile steadied after slipping back against the dollar in overseas trade after the Fed minutes from its May 9 meeting showed policymakers becoming more sanguine about growth prospects despite a housing market slump.

The records showed inflation remains the top concern for Fed policymakers, dampening expectations of a near-term cut in US interest rates, dealers said.