Yen rises against greenback

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

A businessman passes before a share prices board in Tokyo on March 8. AFP photo

The yen firmed against the dollar in Asian trade yesterday, as fresh worries about the eurozone debt crisis sent risk-averse investors flocking to the safe-haven currency.

The dollar slipped to 80.76 yen in Tokyo trade, from 81.49 yen in New York on April 10.

However, the euro shed earlier losses and rebounded from the previous day’s big losses to $1.3112 and 106.10 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, from $1.3084 and 105.49 in New York. Japan’s government moved to play down the upward trend, saying the yen’s recent rise has yet to provoke dramatic steps such as another yen-selling intervention to tame its value.

“I won’t let (every rise and fall in the yen) dictate my mood,” Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters yesterday.

A slow US recovery, the eurozone’s lingering debt problem and worries about growth in China have all fuelled pessimism over the global economy, amid a lack of fresh trading cues, said Emma Lawson, strategist at National Australia Bank.