The yen appreciated 1.2 percent to 132.02 per euro at 8:34 a.m. in New York, from 133.64 yesterday, while the dollar appreciated 0.6 percent to $1.4869 versus the euro, from $1.4963. The gains are being attributed to a drop in global stock markets urging investors to seek safe instruments in which to protect their cash.
“It’s a risk-off day,” said Daragh Maher, deputy head of global foreign-exchange strategy in London at Calyon, the investment-banking unit of Credit Agricole SA. “Equity markets are down, and in that kind of environment the dollar and the yen get bid.”