TOKYO: The yen's brief climb hit a block in Asia Thursday with sentiment picking up as Chinese stock markets rallied and dealers held out hope for a Greek debt deal this weekend.
In Tokyo, the dollar strengthened to 121.37 yen from 120.71 yen in New York while the euro rose to 134.69 yen against 133.68 yen.
However, both were still off levels earlier this week when jittery traders piled into the yen, which is a seen as a safe-haven currency in times of turmoil and uncertainty.
Chinese stocks swung wildly on Thursday as Beijing took new measures to avert a crash after mainland markets plunged more than 30 percent over the past month, wiping trillions of dollars off values.
China's market regulator barred "big" shareholders -- defined as those with stakes of more than five percent -- and executives of listed companies from selling their shares for the next six months.
Dealers are also tracking events in Europe after Greece was given a Sunday deadline to come up with a bailout reform plan acceptable to its creditors or face ejection from the eurozone.
European leaders slapped the ultimatum on Athens after last weekend's referendum in which Greek voters rejected austerity-packed reforms in return for more cash.
They have warned the country's government that if it does not provide detailed measures, a contingency plan is in place to deal with its removal from the currency bloc.
The euro, which had fallen to a five-week low of $1.0916 on Tuesday, rebounded as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed to present "credible" reform plans to creditors by Thursday.
In Asia, the unit ticked up to $1.1100 from 1.1074 in New York.
"Greece faces a deadline on the 12th, so we'll have a wait-and-see feeling until then," Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
In the US, minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting revealed an overriding concern about raising interest rates too quickly, risking an upset of the economy's moderate recovery from the financial crisis.
The dollar rose against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It eased to 63.54 Indian rupees from 63.59 rupees, to 45.17 Philippine pesos from 45.20 pesos, to 33.95 Thai baht from 34.04 baht, to Tw$31.01 from Tw$31.07, to 1,132.82 South Korean won from 1,136.73 won, and to Sg$1.3501 from Sg$1.3570.
The greenback fetched 13,338 Indonesian rupiah against 13,339 rupiah.
The Australian dollar soared to 74.71 US cents from 73.90 cents after a report on a better-than-expected employment figures. The Chinese yuan slipped to 19.53 yen from 19.60 yen.
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