TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - The dollar was rangebound against the yen in midafternoon trading, but with its downside supported by short-covering after falls in the local stockmarket, dealers said. Investor nervousness ahead of the release of results by major Japanese electronics companies today and tomorrow was also underpinning the dollar, they added. Today, Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu, Sony and Advantest will release their results for the year to March. Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Kyocera and Honda Motor will announce their results tomorrow. Shuji Takano, senior foreign exchange dealer, at Aozora Bank, said although the dollar was steady today, the currency is likely to maintain a "modest downtrend" given expectations Wall Street will fall further and Japanese stocks will rise. "The performance on the Japanese market is expected to be solid thanks to earnings recovery hopes and offshore investors appear to be upgrading their views on Japan," he said. "On the other hand, due to the disappointment with the latest outcome of the quarterly earnings season in the US and reduced optimism over the trend of the US economy, the equity market in the US is likely to continue to ease." "Given the likely difference in the direction on the capital markets, the dollar is likely to remain weak against the yen," he added. The euro was rangebound against the dollar ahead of the release of major US economic data, including employment cost index and GDP, dealers said. "While there is almost no reason to actively buy into the euro, the currency is still expected to maintain an upward momentum, unless sentiment towards the dollar recovers," Takano said. "If the DJIA index falls to below the psychologically important 10,000 points level, the euro may break through the 0.9 usd level."