NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar gained versus major currencies and briefly surged to a four-month high against the yen Thursday after Japan's finance minister said he wants to see a weaker yen.
What prices are doing: The dollar was up 0.1% versus the yen at ¥93.50 late Thursday after jumping nearly 1% earlier. The greenback edged up 0.03% against the British pound to $1.593 and was flat against the euro at $1.432.
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The buck was mixed against rivals Wednesday after reports showed that fewer jobs were cut in December and that the service sector grew.
What's driving prices: Overnight, Japan's new finance minister, Naoto Kan, announced he wants to see the yen weaken, which placed further pressure on the yen and bolstered the dollar on Thursday.
China's central bank also unexpectedly raised a key interest rate on Thursday, the first increase in nearly five months.
Investors are also looking toward the U.S. government's report on employment that is due Friday. Economists predict a decline of 35,000 jobs in December and an unemployment rate of 10%, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com.
What analysts are saying: "One of the biggest developments were the comments from Japan's new finance minister," said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com. "This is going to continue to influence a higher dollar against the yen."
Dolan also said investor optimism about the upcoming employment data is pushing the dollar higher.
He predicts Friday will be "a distinct dollar day," and if the report is positive, the greenback will rally for the next couple months.
If the government announces a worse than expected drop in employment, "that is really going to upset the dollar, and we'll see a distinctly dollar-negative reaction," Dolan said.
However, the news that China raised interest rates "is really a different story" and didn't have an effect on the dollar, said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Browns Brother Harriman. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.80% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.09% | 3.11% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.65% | 2.69% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.77% | 3.86% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.09% | 3.21% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,454.83 | -74.92 | -0.60% |
| Nasdaq | 2,837.53 | -1.85 | -0.07% |
| S&P 500 | 1,317.82 | -2.86 | -0.22% |
| Treasuries | 1.74 | -0.01 | -0.80% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.15 | 0.01 | 0.14% |
| Sprint Nextel Corp | 2.62 | 0.09 | 3.56% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 16.33 | -0.06 | -0.37% |
| Chesapeake Energy Co... | 15.81 | 0.23 | 1.48% |
| Ford Motor Co | 10.60 | 0.01 | 0.09% |
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