NEW YORK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The dollar rebounded against major currencies on Friday after Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Japan is confident in U.S. debt.

    Yosano was reported as saying in an interview that Japan has complete trust in the fact that the U.S. views its strong-dollar policy as fundamental. "So our trust in U.S. treasuries is absolutely unshakable," he said.

    The minister also said Japan has complete faith in U.S. economic and fiscal policy and the U.S. dollar's position as the world's reserve currency isn't under threat.

    Yosano's comments boosted market confidence in U.S. debt, sending the dollar higher. In the previous sessions, the dollar has been under pressure from reports that some major holders of U.S. debt, such as Brazil and Russia, indicated interest in alternatives to dollar holdings.

    A weak economic report for the euro zone also helped the dollar rising against European currencies. Industrial production in the euro area fell by 1.9 percent in April from March, according to Eurostat, the statistic agency of the European Union. It was much larger than a loss of 0.4 percent expected by analysts.

    The euro bought 1.4010 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4126 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound fell to 1.6450 dollars from 1.6589 dollars.

    The dollar rose to 1.1184 Canadian dollars from 1.0980 Canadian dollars, and rose to 1.0793 Swiss francs from 1.0697 Swiss francs. It rose to 98.24 Japanese yen from 97.52 Japanese yen.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis