TOKYO - The dollar rose against other major currencies in Asian trade on Monday, supported by growing optimism about prospects for the world's largest economy, dealers said.

The dollar gained to 93.06 yen in the Tokyo morning trade, from 93.00 yen in New York late on Thursday, before the New Year holiday weekend.

The euro fell to $1.4260 from $1.4323, and to 132.68 yen from 133.26.

The greenback remained firm after ending 2009 on an upbeat note in the wake of government data indicating that new US claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since July 2008.

The seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending December 26 stood at 432,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 454,000, the US Labor Department said.

"The dollar will remain upbeat for a while, even if not sharply higher as domestic exporters are selling the currency," said Masatsugu Miyata, a foreign exchange dealer at Hachijuni Bank.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see the dollar test a higher level ahead of the upcoming economic data in the United States," he said.

Market players will closely watch US economic reports on manufacturing activity and December unemployment slated for release this week, dealers said.

"I think the US jobless data will improve and send the dollar higher," Miyata said.

But he also thinks it will be some time before the US Federal Reserve moves to raise its key interest rate.

The Federal Reserve has held the key rate at virtually zero percent since December 2008 and a rate rise was expected to push the dollar higher.

The US jobless rate stood at 10% in November, down from 10.2% in October.