TOKYO: The yen slumped against the euro and dollar in Asia Friday as receding fears over eurozone deflation and buoyant sentiment steered investors into higher-yielding, riskier currencies.
The euro rose to a five-year high of 139.65 yen in Tokyo midday trade from 139.05 yen in New York Thursday afternoon. It was also at $1.3617 from $1.3601.
The dollar bought 102.56 yen against 102.24 yen.
Investors tend to buy the yen in times of uncertainty and sell it when the outlook is rosier.
Analysts said attention was focused on European and Asian trading cues with US dealers off for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"European markets made some further gains on receding risks of European deflation and ahead of tonight's eurozone flash inflation report for November," National Australia Bank said.
"Higher-than-expected German inflation would have helped to soothe some nerves that tonight's (consumer price index) could be another low read and stoke deflationary fears," it added.
Traders will use the latest eurozone inflation data to look for clues about whether the European Central Bank will launch further easing measures after cutting rates to a record-low 0.25 percent this month.
Prices rose at four-year-low 0.7 percent in October, which prompted the latest ECB rate cut in a bid to avoid deflation.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.