Yen Falls for Second Day Versus Euro on Worsening Japan Economy

[Enivid]

The yen fell for a second day against the euro on speculation Japanese reports will show retail sales and business sentiment are deteriorating, reducing demand for the currency as a refuge from world financial turmoil.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars strengthened against the yen as Asian stocks extended a global rally, spurring investors to seek higher-yielding assets. The euro weakened against 13 of the 16 major currencies after the Wall Street Journal reported Banque AIG, a unit of American International Group Inc., may face defaults on $234 billion of derivatives, signaling European banks may incur additional credit losses.

“Incoming data are likely to confirm the poor state of the Japanese economy,” said Hiroshi Maeba, deputy managing director of foreign-exchange trading in Tokyo at Nomura Securities Co., a unit of Japan’s biggest brokerage by assets. “The yen may be sold on weak data.”

The yen declined to 132.70 per euro as of 2:15 p.m. in Tokyo from 132.48 late in New York yesterday. It touched 134.51 on March 24, the weakest since Oct. 21. Japan’s currency dropped to 97.75 against the dollar from 97.54. It reached 98.58 on March 24, the lowest level since March 18.

The dollar traded at $1.3574 per euro from $1.3583, and was at $1.4598 versus the British pound from $1.4552. The Australian dollar climbed to 68.36 yen from 68.05 yen, and the New Zealand currency gained to 56.24 yen from 55.20 yen.

From Bloomberg News.