The yen weakened against higher-yielding currencies as an advance in Asian stocks and optimism the global recession is easing damped demand for safer assets. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 2.8 percent and the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares climbed 2.3 percent after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 3 percent yesterday. Sony Corp., which gets a quarter of its sales from the U.S., jumped 3.3 percent.
The yen fell against all of the 16 most-traded currencies before a U.S. government report that may show housing starts climbed from near a record low, boosting the appetite for riskier investments. The dollar fell to the lowest level this year against the British pound as demand for the relative safety of the U.S. currency eased.
The yen fell to 58.08 against the New Zealand dollar as of 7:55 a.m. in London from 57.28 in New York yesterday. It weakened to 12.9242 Korean won from 13.0768. Japan’s currency declined to 131.34 per euro from 130.61, and dropped to 96.58 per dollar from 96.30.
The euro rose to $1.3593 from $1.3562 yesterday. The pound climbed to $1.5440 from $1.5348, after earlier rising to $1.5443, the highest since Dec. 18. The Swiss franc fell for the third time in four days against the euro. The franc weakened to 1.5120 per euro by 7:07 a.m. in Zurich, from 1.5110 yesterday. It was little changed at 1.1146 versus the U.S. dollar.
