Japanese yen down against U.S. dollar, Euro

The Japanese yen fell against the dollar and the euro on Friday as investors took their money away from have assets after reassessing the impact of the Eastern Europe crisis.

The U.S. dollar gained 0.15% to 101.296 yen. The euro gained 0.14% to 137.008, after having earlier hit a high of 137.283, the highest since February 4.

The yen had gained Thursday on news that a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashed in Ukraine. The Japanese currency reversed those gains Friday, with investors moving into assets perceived as risky, including emerging-market currencies and stocks, both of which saw gains on the day.

The perception among traders and analysts has become that hostilities in eastern Ukraine are not likely to drag down global growth.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday, however, that sanctions were aimed at having minimal impacts on the global economy, which gave the dollar some support, though gains were minimal due to uncertainty in the Middle East, where Israel`s ground offensive in Gaza continued.

The Japanese currency strengthened shortly after the U.S. widened sanctions against Russia for its role in increasing tensions along its border with Ukraine. On Thursday, news emerged that a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in eastern Ukraine, pushing the yen to highs on the day against the dollar and euro. By late afternoon, Israel began its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 10/32, yielding 2.487%. For investors, higher U.S. bond yields make the dollar more attractive, as they boost returns on dollar-denominated assets. In addition, the price of the dollar against the yen has been known to move similarly to the yield on the 10-year note.

Disappointing U.S. sentiment data allowed for cautious trading ahead of the weekend. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to a four-month low of 81.3 in July from 82.5 in June, confounding expectations for rise to 83.0.

EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.3526. The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.08% at 1.7088.