AFP - The euro rose against the dollar on Thursday after a successful Spanish bond sale, while the yen was in sharp focus a day after Japan's rare intervention in currency markets.
In morning London trade, the European single currency rose to 1.3075 dollars from 1.3009 dollars late on Wednesday in New York.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar slipped to 85.56 yen from 85.72 yen on Wednesday.
Spain raised 4.0 billion euros with a 10-year and 31-year-bond issue on Thursday, the maximum target for the auction and at a lower rate than previously, the Spanish treasury said.
Markets have been jittery over Spain's high public deficit, which peaked at 11.2 percent of gross domestic product last year, fearing the country could suffer the same fate as Greece which needed a bailout from the European Union.
But recent successful bond sales suggests investor concerns over the nation's ability to cut its ballooning fiscal gap and find financing in the market is starting to abate.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has meanwhile dismissed suggestions Athens will be forced to restructure its debt, a scenario he said would break the eurozone.
"Restructuring is not going to happen. There are much broader implications for the eurozone should Greece have to restructure its debt," Papaconstantinou told the Financial Times.
The minister's comments came as he began a European roadshow in London on Wednesday aimed at wooing investors to buy long-term Greek debt, as the country struggles to rebuild its battered economy and finances.
"People fail to see the costs to both Greece and the eurozone of a restructuring: the cost to its citizens, the cost to its access to markets," said Papaconstantinou.
"If Greece restructures, why on earth would people invest in other peripheral economies? It would be a fundamental break to the unity of the eurozone."
Elsewhere on Thursday, the British pound fell as retail sales fell unexpectedly in August according to official data.
In Asia, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged further "decisive" steps in currency markets if needed, after Japan acted to tame the yen after striking 15-year highs against the dollar.
But Wednesday's intervention drew criticism from Europe and the United States.
"We are determined not to allow the drastic fluctuation of the yen," Kan told a conference in Tokyo, a day after Japan's first global currency market intervention since 2004 to help safeguard an export-driven recovery.
But that may provoke ire from Japan's Group of Seven partners after its unilateral move Wednesday was rounded on in Washington and Brussels.
The decision surprised markets as Kan sought to silence those accusing him of inaction and win over supporters of Ichiro Ozawa, the pro-intervention rival he beat in a ruling party leadership election Tuesday.
A strong yen puts Japanese exporters at a disadvantage as it erodes their repatriated earnings and competitiveness, which in turn threatens the nation's fragile growth.
In London on Thursday, the euro changed hands at 1.3075 dollars against 1.3009 dollars late in New York on Wednesday, at 111.87 yen (111.51), 0.8385 pounds (0.8324) and 1.3086 Swiss francs (1.3052).
The dollar stood at 85.56 yen (85.72) and 1.0008 Swiss francs (1.0035).
The pound was at 1.5592 dollars (1.5623).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to 1,271 dollars an ounce from 1,267 dollars an ounce late on Wednesday.
