Yen gains as exporters sell dollar and euro

The yen rose yesterday broadly on dollar and euro selling by Japanese exporters, while sterling faltered on weak data and after Moody's said Britain faces a dilemma over its support for the banking sector. Yen also rose against the pound.

The yen also climbed with short-term traders taking cues from a dip in Nikkei share average and US stock index futures, as demand for riskier assets ebbed.

The dollar fell against yen, but rose against euro, which dropped against the greenback, dipping 0.1 per cent to $1.3615, but was still well off last week's $1.3433, its lowest in more than nine months.

The euro fell 0.4 per cent to ¥122.59 yesterday, off a two-week high of ¥123.90 struck on EBS on Monday. The dollar fell 0.3 per cent to ¥90.01. The greenback had rallied on the yen to a two-week high of ¥90.69 on EBS on Monday, after a better-than-expected US jobs report backed views that the Federal Reserve will lift rates faster than the Bank of Japan. Sterling fell 0.3 per cent to $1.5014 and shed 0.7 per cent to ¥135.08.

"Japanese exporters are in the market and selling pretty actively, including the euro against the yen," said Yuji Matsuura, joint general manager at Aozora Bank's forex and derivatives trading group.

Market players said that gains in the yen have been limited by speculation that the Bank of Japan may take further steps to ease monetary policy.

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