The euro found some reprieve on Wednesday from a plunge since the start of the week and commodity currencies rose after upbeat Chinese data comforted market players gripped by fears that the eurozone debt crisis could spiral out of control.
The euro has managed to stay more than one percent above a four-month low against the dollar and kept some distance from a record low against the Swiss franc in Asia, as falls in Italian and Spanish bond yields after their surge to 14-year highs on Tuesday have put the brakes on selling of the single currency.
The Japanese yen, which has benefited from the euro's woes, hit a four-month peak against the dollar and many other currencies in thin, early Asian trade, but it then stepped back from highs in line with an easing in overall risk aversion trade. The US dollar were not helped by the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting that revealed that some policymakers believed further easing could be needed if the recovery remains too sluggish.
The euro stabilised around $1.3990, after Tuesday's wild swings that took it to a four-month low around $1.3838, with the news that Moody's cut Ireland's credit rating to junk status adding salt to its wounds. In Asian trade, the euro got some help after data showed solid expansion in the Chinese economy and industrial output, wrong-footing those who had expected a sharper slowdown.
Against the safe-haven Swiss franc, the common currency stood at 1.1640 franc, having plumbed a record low of 1.1555 on Tuesday. The dollar briefly plunged to 78.48 yen as stop-loss orders, mainly from Japanese retail traders, were triggered in thin volumes a few hours before Asian trading became active. The dollar later bounced back to around 79.54 yen, up 0.4 percent on the day, helped by selling from Japanese investors. Still, the greenback has broken below support around 79.50 yen for the first time since mid-March, when Japanese officials, along with other central banks, had to intervene to curb the yen.
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