Yen falls as haven appeal dulled by recovery in crude, stocks

[TOKYO] The yen declined against all of its 16 major peers as a recovery in stocks and commodities prompted investors to opt for riskier assets over havens.

Currencies of commodity-exporter nations like New Zealand and Australiarose among Group-of-10 counterparts, both reaching levels not seen in 10 months versus the dollar, after oil climbed to above US$40 a barrel and European stocks rallied to a three-month high. The yen, often used by investors as a haven in times of market turmoil, is still stronger versus all of its major peers this year.

"We are very much in a kind of risk-on phase," said Lee Hardman, a foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd in London. "So there's a further buildup in long commodity and emerging-market currency positions and risk assets are climbing back towards highs of the year." Going long on a currency means betting on its appreciation.

The yen dropped 0.5 per cent to 109.33 per dollar as of 10:15 am in London. The dollar fell 0.2 per cent to US$1.1338 per euro, set for a third day of declines against the common currency.

Australia's currency climbed 0.3 per cent to 77.75 US cents, after earlier reaching 78.03, the highest level since June 19. The New Zealand dollar advanced 0.8 per cent to 70.06 US cents, having touched 70.28 cents, the strongest since June 12.

BLOOMBERG