The U.S. dollar surged against the Japanese yen Tuesday, as data showed that U.S. pending home sales in January fell 7.7% and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that recent data shows few signs of improvement in the U.S. economy. The dollar rose 1.4% to 98.39 Japanese yen. The dollar index which measures the currency against a trade-weighted basket of six global counterparts, stood at 88.98 compared with 88.950 in North American trade late Monday. The euro gained 0.3% to $1.2585 and the British pound edged up 0.1% to $1.4042.
