TOKYO: The euro and dollar firmed against the yen in Asian trade Tuesday despite continuing worries over European debt woes and the failure of US lawmakers to agree on a deficit-busting plan.
The euro traded at 104.15 yen in Tokyo trade, up from 103.83 yen late Monday in New York. The single currency stood at $1.3491 compared to $1.3494.
The dollar also rose to 77.16 yen in Tokyo trade from 76.94 yen.
"There are still some stop-loss orders that aren't executed yet, so the pair (dollar/yen) may rise a bit more," one trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
Nobuyoshi Kuroiwa, deputy general manager of the forex team at Hachijuni Bank, said the move was also in part a sensitive reaction to a rumour of possible intervention in the markets by Tokyo.
Kuroiwa said he was sceptical. "Even if Japan intervenes again, it would have to act unilaterally like last time, which means the yen would have to rise much higher than the current level."
Japan intervened in the market on its own in late October, the first time since August, after the dollar hit a post-war low of 75.32 yen.
The euro fell against the dollar in New York, in a cautious market the day after an election victory for Spain's conservatives and as investors fretted about debt in the United States and Europe.
"The sovereign-debt problems in Italy and Spain could remain a major theme for the currency market," Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securites, told Dow Jones Newswires.
In Europe, Spain's right stormed to its biggest election victory ever on Sunday, winning over voters but sending Spain's stockmarket falling and the cost of its debt surging over worries the new government would not stick to its bailout programme commitments.
Market nerves were also jangled after a US Congress "supercommittee" announced Monday it had failed to reach a debt deal, after angry partisan battles over the best way to revive the economy.
It confirmed widespread expectations that the 12-member committee would fail in its mission to cut US deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years amid political feuds over tax hikes on the rich and cuts to social spending.
Japan's Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Tuesday financial markets were "very disappointed" over the failure of the US congressional committee to reach a deal.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which closed at its lowest level since March 2009 on Monday, opened down 1.01 percent.
The index then recovered some lost ground as the dollar rose. A strong yen hurts exporters by reducing their repatriated revenue.
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