Dollar, Yen Advance as Stock Declines Boost Demand for Safety

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar and the yen gained on speculation declines in Asian stocks boosted demand for the safety of the two currencies.

The U.S. currency rose to $1.2811 per euro as of 9:13 a.m. in Tokyo, from $1.2837 late yesterday in New York. The yen advanced to 124.40 per euro from 124.86. The dollar traded at 97.09 from 97.27 late yesterday.

The yen strengthened against all 16 of the most-traded currencies as Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.8 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific index of regional shares lost 0.3 percent.