TOKYO: The yen weakened in Asian trade on Friday as risk appetite improved following the Japanese central bank's monetary easing earlier this week, upbeat US data and hopes for Greece's future.
The dollar climbed to 79.13 yen, it’s highest since an October 31 intervention by Japanese authorities, from 78.90 yen late Thursday in New York, while the euro bought 103.93 yen, up from 103.63 yen.
The euro was also at $1.3138 in Tokyo, compared with $1.3132 in New York.
The Bank of Japan said Tuesday that it will pump $130 billion more into its ailing economy, the latest push to combat stubborn deflation as domestic and global uncertainty intensifies.
"This move has paved the way for a sustained rally" of the dollar against the yen over the course of 2012, Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The dollar may climb up to 90.00 yen by the end of this year, he added. The yen was also weighed by market forecasts that Japan's trade balance in January will be negative again, said Masafumi Yamamoto of Barclays Capital in a note to clients.
Japan posted its first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years after the March quake-tsunami and strong yen hit exports in 2011, while high fuel costs pushed up import bills.
Traders were also buying the dollar after the weekly report of new claims for US unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since March 2008 while data on January housing construction confirmed a pickup in the sector.
The euro firmed on media reports that the European Central Bank has moved to exchange its holdings of Greek bonds for new ones issued by Athens. The news "raised expectations that the second batch of supportive measures for Greece will be approved on February 20," said Yamamoto of Barclays Capital.
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