TOKYO: The euro was weaker in Asia on Tuesday as risk-averse investors sold the unit and sought safe havens amid escalating violence in Libya, dealers said.
The single European currency slipped to $1.3583 in Tokyo afternoon trade, from 1.3681 in late London trading. The unit also fell to 113.20 yen from 113.75 yen. The dollar fetched 83.33 yen compared to 83.14 yen.
The New York market was closed Monday for a national holiday.
"Investors shunned risks due to the Middle East tensions and weak Asian stock markets," said Teppei Ino, analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"The market's focus is totally on the situation in the Middle East and Libya, whose development is uncertain for now," Ino said.
In Libya, protesters overran several cities and the uprising has now spread to the capital, with gunfire rattling Tripoli.
Human rights groups put the death toll at between 200 and 400 since protests erupted last week in the the oil-rich north African nation ruled by Moamer Kadhafi for 41 years.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell sharply after European markets dropped on continued concerns over the political tensions in the Middle East.
The dollar briefly soared as high as 83.56 in thin early trade, which coincided with reports that Libyan warplanes had bombed targets inside the country, dealers said.
Ratings agency Moody's said it had lowered its outlook on Japan's "Aa2" debt rating to "negative" from "stable" on concerns the government's current policy may not be adequate to contain huge debt.
"The dollar temporarily rose against the yen following Moody's announcement but the impact was not long-lasting," Ino said.
Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist at Barclays Bank in Tokyo, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Yen-selling should be short-lived as the ratio of overseas Japanese government bond holders (to total holders) is low."
The New Zealand dollar and the Australian dollar came under pressure after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch in New Zealand Tuesday, dealers said, with at least 65 people killed, New Zealand premier John Key said.
The New Zealand dollar was trading at US$0.7504, from US$0.7636 before the quake struck. The Australian dollar was at US$1.0032 from US$1.0086.
The US dollar traded higher against other Asian currencies.
It rose to Sg$1.2804 from Sg$1.2747 on Monday, to 1,125.75 Korean won from 1,118.05 and to Tw$29.56 from Tw$29.37.
The unit also gained to 30.64 Thai baht from 30.55, to 43.60 Philippine pesos from 43.45 and to 8,875.00 Indonesian rupiah from 8,847.50.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.