The euro’s roller coaster ride continued in Asian trade on Tuesday after it plummeted to a near 12-year-low against the yen a day earlier on worries about the troubled eurozone.
The single currency bought $1.2123 and 94.86 yen in Tokyo morning trade, down from $1.2137 and 95.13 yen in New York late Monday.
However the embattled currency’s trading level was an improvement from Asian trade on Monday when it dropped to 94.24 yen, its lowest level since
November 2000.
The dollar, meanwhile, traded at 78.23 yen against 78.37 yen, with the Japanese currency seen as a safe-haven unit amid turmoil in Europe and an uncertain US economic recovery.
Among the factors driving down the euro was Spanish borrowing costs hitting record highs on speculation that Madrid could soon require a full state bailout.
Moody’s also took the first step toward stripping Germany of its coveted AAA credit rating on Monday, cutting the outlook for Europe’s largest economy to “negative”.
A similar move was announced for fellow AAA ranked economies, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi repeated warnings about the yen’s soaring value and hinted at another possible currency market intervention in a bid to tame the unit. “We will not rule out any measures against excessive moves and will take decisive action when that’s deemed necessary,” he told reporters.
Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa said that he would watch for any fallout from the European crisis.
