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The dollar slipped against the euro and other major currencies on Wednesday after U.S. economic data boosted equities, while the Japanese yen ended a short-lived drop against several rivals after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by expanding its own asset-purchase program. The ICE dollar index DXY -0.09% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell to 79.113 versus 79.226 late Tuesday in North America. The euro EURUSD -0.02% turned up to $1.3051, from $1.3042 in North American trade late Tuesday. It's up from just under $1.30 as the session's lows. Click to Play Euro crisis still feeds the gold bulls Gold hit a 6-month high this week as the Bank of Japan joined central banks around the world with a further round of monetary easing. Photo: Getty Images More paradoxically, the Japanese yen turned up during U.S. trading hours, in spite of the bank of Japan's easier monetary policy, which is seen as devaluing to a country's currency. The dollar USDJPY +0.01% rose as high as ¥79.23 before retreating to ¥78.36, down from ¥78.89 late Tuesday. The euro EURJPY -0.01% erased an early rally to fall 0.5%, changing hands at ¥102.25, while the British pound GBPJPY +0.02% dropped 0.8% to ¥126.96. The Bank of Japan's decision comes less than a week after the Federal Reserve announced it would embark on a third round of quantitative easing to underpin the U.S. recovery. And analysts said the BoJ's plan wasn't nearly enough to counter the Fed's dollar-weakening policies. Read story on Bank of Japan. "Investors had been aware of the possibility of such a move but it had not been fully priced into the market. Consequently, the yen took a hit when the BOJ made its announcement," noted strategists at Moneycorp in London. The central bank's move bolstered global equities, undercutting demand for such safe-haven currencies as Japan's yen and the U.S. dollar. Happy taking risks The move helped revive a rally in riskier assets like stocks and commodities that had been fueled in part by last week's Fed move and the European Central Bank's announcement earlier this month of a bond-buying plan. That rally started to stall as Spain continues to hold off on requesting help from the euro zone's rescue funds. An aid request is a prerequisite for triggering the ECB's bond plan. While Japanese authorities heralded the Bank of Japan's move for initially weakening the yen, the potential for European worries to move back onto the radar could continue to provide the yen with unwelcome support, said Lutz Karpowitz, strategist at Commerzbank, in a note to clients. "It will have to be seen whether this happiness is going to last long. Now that sentiment in Europe seems to deteriorate slightly, the yen might be in demand as a safe haven again," Karpowitz said. Indeed, U.S. stocks advanced and the dollar gave up gains after a pair of reports said sales of existing homes and construction of new homes rose. Read story on home sales. European banks During European hours, the euro declined as German officials reportedly sought to water down proposals for a European banking union and a supervisory role for the European Central Bank. Dow Jones Newswires reported that the German government isn't only insisting on a strict separation of bank supervision and monetary policy in Europe, but also wants a separate body that would give large states more say on supervisory questions. Read about Germany, bank supervision . The yen initially declined after the Bank of Japan said it would inject more stimulus into the nation's economy. A report by Reuters said lawmakers from Germany's ruling coalition are planning to propose that the European Central Bank's new supervisory powers would apply only to systemically-important banks and cross-border institutions. Proposals for a strong banking union are seen by some "as a critical foundation for a sound currency," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management. "Therefore, any proposals to diminish the ECB's supervisory authority is viewed very negatively by the market," he said. The WSJ dollar index XX:BUXX +0.02% , which tracks the greenback against a slightly larger basket, fell to 69.20 from 69.30. Also Wednesday, the pound GBPUSD +0.00% changed hands at $1.6218, down from $1.6245. The Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.05% turned up to $1.0483, from $1.0444