TOKYO: The yen picked up in Asia on Tuesday as tumbling oil prices sent traders scurrying for safer investments.
The dollar slipped to 117.94 yen in Tokyo, from 118.27 yen in New York, while the euro was down at 139.67 yen from 139.98 yen.
The single currency edged up to $1.1843 from $1.1834 as investors gauge whether the European Central Bank (ECB) will soon expand its stimulus, while the US Federal Reserve eyes a mid-year interest rate hike.
"Everyone feels that a weaker oil price will lead to weaker inflation for the US," Stan Shamu, a Melbourne- based market strategist at IG Ltd., told Bloomberg News.
"This will see them (the Fed) delay their rates lift off. That will probably see a bit of steam coming out of the US dollar."
Investors tend to move into the safe-haven yen during times of uncertainty or turmoil.
On Monday, crude sank again after Goldman Sachs slashed its price outlook for the commodity, adding to anxiety about a global oversupply, weak demand and soft growth in key Chinese and European markets.
In early Asian trade Tuesday, Brent crude for February delivery fell 75 cents to $46.68 a barrel -- its lowest level April 2009. On Monday it plunged more than five percent to end below $50.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate shed 73 cents to $45.34 -- its weakest since March 2009 -- a day after losing 4.7 percent.
Investors were also looking ahead to the ECB's meeting on January 22 for some clues on its intention to launch a quantitative easing (QE) programme that would see it buy government bonds -- similar to the US Federal Reserve during the global financial crisis -- to fend off deflation.
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