Summary Yen fell on encouraging purchasing manager index readings in China and eurozone.
NEW YORK (AFP) - The Japanese yen fell against the dollar and euro Thursday, driven by encouraging purchasing manager index readings in China and the eurozone.
Both gained around one percent on the yen, the dollar pushing to 108.27 yen and the euro to 136.93 yen.
HSBC s advance PMI for China rose to a three-month high, and in Europe, Markit s PMI also gained slightly after hitting a 10-month low, good news in the context of fears of greater deterioration in the eurozone economy.
"The flash PMI readings sent a mildly positive message to the market, suggesting that economic activity in the eurozone was stabilizing and no longer contracting," said Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management.
Meanwhile, the dollar edged up slightly against the pound ahead of the release of the third-quarter growth estimate for the British economy.
Expectations are generally for a slight slowdown to 3.0 percent from 3.2 percent, but a greater disappointment could send sterling lower, according to David Song, currency analyst at DailyFX.
