The dollar slipped against the Japanese yen and the German mark Wednesday, as volatile trading in non-U.S. currencies buffeted an otherwise featureless foreign exchange market.

One factor creating a degree of pressure on the dollar was a report released during overnight trading in Tokyo that showed Japan’s chronically large trade surplus persisted in 1994.

“It kind of blew away the theory that a stronger yen would erode the trade surplus,” said David Solin, a partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics.

In late New York trading, the dollar was quoted at 98.95 Japanese yen, down from 99.46 late Tuesday. The dollar also was changing hands in New York at 1.5314 German marks, down from 1.5358.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7166 1.3955 France .1889 5.2945 Germany .6538 1.5295 Great Britain 1.5563 .6425 Japan .010116 98.85