The yen and the dollar strengthened for a second day against the euro as Asian stocks declined, increasing demand for the relative safety of the Japanese and U.S. currencies.
The yen rose against all 16 most-traded currencies after the Sunday Times reported Lloyds Banking Group Plc may announce further losses of as much as 13 billion pounds ($20.9 billion) and the Wall Street Journal said major U.S. airlines may have to file for bankruptcy. U.S. carriers such as AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. may face the prospect of having to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the winter if liquidity does not improve, the WSJ reported today, citing analysts.
The yen rose to 128.18 per euro as of 7:46 a.m. in London from 129.00 in New York last week, when it reached 127.02, the strongest since May 18. The dollar advanced to $1.3910 per euro from $1.3936. The yen advanced to 92.10 per dollar from 92.54.
The pound fell for a second day against the dollar and the euro after the Sunday Times newspaper, without saying where it got the information, said yesterday Lloyds will reveal the losses in its first-half results scheduled to be reported in three weeks. The British currency slid 0.6 percent to $1.6114 as of 6:28 a.m. in London, and weakened 0.5 percent to 86.38 pence per euro.
