Euro Strengthens for Fourth Day Against Yen as Stocks Advance

By Theresa Barraclough and Ron Harui


March 17 (Bloomberg) -- The euro rose for a fourth day against the yen, the longest winning streak in three weeks, as Asian stocks extended a global rally, spurring investors to buy higher-yielding assets.

Europe’s single currency approached the highest level against the yen since December after Handelsblatt reported European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark saying there was limited room for more interest-rate cuts. The yen weakened for a sixth day versus the New Zealand dollar after Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands said the bank had a “strong” first two months of the year.

“The backdrop of improving risk appetite is encouraging investors to trim ‘safe-haven’ currency bets,” said Danica Hampton, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington. “This is likely to result in a generally weaker dollar and solid demand for yen crosses.”

The euro climbed to 128.35 yen as of 7:11 a.m. in London, from 127.32 yen late in New York yesterday, when it reached 128.73 yen, the highest level since Dec. 29. It traded at $1.2973, trimming a gain of as much as 0.5 percent, from $1.2968. The euro strengthened 2.2 percent versus the dollar last week, the first weekly advance since early February.

Japan’s currency declined to 98.79 per dollar from 98.18 yesterday, and dropped to 52.38 versus the New Zealand currency from 52.02. The yen fell against all 16 most active currencies this week after the Group of 20 finance chiefs vowed on the weekend to clean up toxic assets that helped trigger the crisis.