NEW YORK: The yen jumped on Monday on safe-haven bids after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot to death in the Turkish capital, adding to buying of the Japanese currency to book profits on dollar's recent gains.
It was not immediately clear who attacked Andrei Karlov at an art gallery in Ankara. Islamic State militants have been active in Turkey and carried out several bomb attacks there.
Currency traders typically move into the yen from the dollar and riskier currencies in times of political uncertainty, while investors reduce holdings of stocks and commodities.
"This headline is weighing on risk appetite," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc in Washington.
The yen was up 1 percent against the dollar at 116.75 yen after hitting 118.66 yen on Dec. 15, which was its weakest since Feb. 2, according to Reuters data.
The Japanese currency was 1.1 percent higher against the euro at 121.88 yen.
The Turkish lira shed 0.8 percent at 3.5338 liras per dollar.
The Russian ruble reversed its losses tied to the Ankara attack and was last up 0.2 percent at 61.897 rubles to the dollar.
Before Monday's attack in Ankara, traders were selling the dollar against the yen on lower US Treasury yields and data that showed Japan's export performance improved strongly in November.
The greenback has rallied since the US election on Nov. 8, underpinned by expectations of tax cuts, federal spending on
infrastructure and looser regulations from President-elect Donald Trump.
The Federal Reserve's hint of a possibly faster pace of interest rate increases led to the dollar's latest advance.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against the euro, yen and four other currencies, was down 0.14 percent at 102.81. On Dec. 15, it reached 103.56, its highest since December 2002.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was six basis points lower at 2.536 percent.
Traders will scrutinize a speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 1:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) for any hints that markets had interpreted last week's central bank meeting, where policymakers signaled they could increase interest rates three times in 2017, as more hawkish than had been intended.
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