Previous session overview : The euro rose against the yen and the dollar in Asia Monday as generally stronger regional equities encouraged buying of the risk-sensitive common currency, which also benefited from bargain hunting following falls in New York on Friday.
At 0450 GMT, the euro was up at JPY111.95 from JPY111.67 late Friday in New York. Against the dollar, the common currency traded up at USD1.3616 from USD1.3582. Higher share prices in Japan, where the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average traded up 0.64% in afternoon trade, cued short-term investors to buy the risk-sensitive currency, dealers said.
Sentiment toward the euro also got a slight boost from data showing that Japan ramped up lending of its foreign currency reserves to the International Monetary Fund to help staunch the European debt crisis. Data released Monday by the Ministry of Finance Monday showed that Tokyo's outstanding loans to the IMF grew to USD10.15 billion in January from USD8.5 billion in the previous month. The money is for a fund to help Ireland, a Japanese finance ministry official said.
