Dollar, yen slip in London

The dollar and yen slipped against other major currencies on Thursday as European shares eked gains, renewing appetite for so-called riskier assets ahead of the Easter holidays. The euro was supported by a 0.3 percent rise in regional share prices, although the currency retreated from a session high after a European Central Bank Governing Council member said that a fall below 1 percent in the central banks key rate was "open for discussion."
Sterling was little changed on the day, after the Bank of England held interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent, as widely expected, and said it would continue with quantitative easing. "To the extent that weve seen a slight revival in risk appetite, the rebound in equities is important," said Robert Minikin, senior forex strategist at Standard Chartered in London. "But we stress that for many currencies, for example in dollar/yen, its been a mean-reverting move, rather than pushing out to new levels."
Volatile stock markets and uncertainty over banks kept investors jittery, and activity was also limited ahead of holidays in many markets on Friday and Monday. Currency markets have recently taken their cue from equities as big US firms kicked off first quarter earnings, with the focus on financial firms results due out next week.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday he welcomed US authorities saying a strong dollar was in US interests and that it was important for all partners to be responsible on exchange rates. Data on Thursday showed German industrial production fell by a monthly 2.9 percent in February, its sixth straight month-on-month drop. Still, the figure was slightly better than forecasts for a fall of 3.1 percent
By 1043 GMT, the euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3285, having climbed as high as $1.3335 in early trade. Against the yen, the euro was up 0.6 percent at 133.00 yen. The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 100.10 yen after falling about 0.8 percent on Wednesday. It rose as high as 101.45 yen on Monday to strike a six-month peak.
Sterling traded at $1.4675, down a touch from the previous day. Nowotny, who is also governor of the Switzerlands central bank, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that he saw he possibility of taking the ECB rate below 1 percent, after the central bank cut rates to 1.25 percent last week. He added that purchasing corporate bonds and commercial paper was a "sensible and efficient measure".