TOKYO -- The yen was firmer against the dollar in Tokyo Friday after the Japanese government said the economy grew for the first time in five quarters in the three months to June, dealers said.

The dollar traded at 118.10-13 yen at 11:00 A.M.

(0500 GMT), down slightly from 118.20-23 yen in New York and compared with 117.70-73 yen in Tokyo late Thursday.

The Cabinet Office said Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.5 percent in the three months to June from the previous quarter, AFP reported.

The consensus view of local economists had been for a rise of 0.2 percent. Naoya Murata, currency trader at UFJ Bank, said the GDP figure was at the high end of market predictions, "so it became a yen-buying factor."

"It is certainly a good figure, though it may be difficult to get very excited," Murata said, adding industrial production data, also released early Friday, were a negative factor. "The GDP data were compiled under a new format and economists may say something after taking a close look at figures later... but they provided immediate support for the yen."

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Japan's industrial output in July fell 0.4 percent from the previous month, following a 0.2 percent fall in June.

The yen jumped to 117.82 to the dollar around 9.30 A.M., shortly after the growth figures were released, but later eased back.

"Dollar selling picked up speed in the early morning but after it reached around 117.80 (yen) to the dollar, importers began buying dollars and there was also some trading related to the end of the month so the dollar regained its position," Murata said.

Osamu Takashima, a foreign exchange analyst with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, said the yen rose on the initial positive reaction to the strong GDP data, with market participants largely ignoring the sharp downward revision of the first quarter to flat growth from the previous 1.4 percent rise.

"Such a reaction, however, looks to be short-lived, as the latest data will not change the overall assessment on the trend of the Japanese economy," he said.