The euro maintained a rally from its lowest level in a decade against the yen after the Group of 20 nations pledged a “strong and coordinated” response to challenges facing the global economy. The 17-nation currency rebounded from an eight-month low versus its U.S. counterpart amid speculation Asian central banks bought the euro and sold dollars. The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose as Asian stocks pared declines. The yen trimmed weekly gains versus most of its major peers before meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. If the G-20 statement “is enacted, that’s a major, important step and that could provide a floor for risk appetite and for confidence,” said Callum Henderson, global head of foreign-exchange research in Singapore at Standard Chartered Plc. “The good news is the euro is not collapsing.” The euro gained to 103.03 yen at 1:38 p.m. in Tokyo from 102.64 in New York yesterday. The shared currency fell as low as 102.22 yesterday, the least since 2001. It rose to $1.3501 from $1.3465 yesterday, when it reached $1.3385, its lowest since Jan. 19. Japan’s currency traded at 76.30 per dollar from 76.24. G-20 ‘Committed’ The G-20 nations are “committed to a strong and coordinated international response to address the renewed challenges facing the global economy, notably from heightened downside risks from sovereign stresses, financial system fragility, market turbulence, weak economic growth and unacceptably high unemployment,” finance chiefs said in a statement released after talks in Washington. Today’s euro advance snapped five days of losses versus the yen and trimmed its decline since Sept. 16 to 2.6 percent. It pared its weekly fall versus the dollar to 2 percent. Traders sold the common currency this week on concern Europe won’t contain its debt crisis, even after Greece accelerated budget cuts to qualify for next month’s payment under a 110 billion-euro ($149 billion) international bailout. The MSCI Asia-Pacific excluding Japan index of shares lost 2.2 percent, after earlier falling as much as 3.1 percent. Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index of U.S. stocks slid 3.2 percent yesterday. Asian Intervention The euro has been bolstered by speculation Asian central banks were active in currency markets after the region’s currencies slumped this week against the dollar, said Charles Han, Hong Kong-based director of foreign-exchange trading at Newedge Financial HK Ltd. “There’s also talk that Asian central banks have been active,” Han said. “Not only have they been buying euro but also, in Korea specifically, they’ve been selling dollars to help smooth volatility.” South Korea’s won is headed for its worst week in 16 months, prompting authorities to say they will intervene to slow the decline. The currency fluctuated between gains and losses today as the finance ministry said it will “take action” to stabilize the currency market, after holding an emergency meeting with the central bank before markets opened. “The herd behavior on one-way bets has been excessive in the recent currency market,” the ministry said. The won tumbled 7 percent this week, the biggest weekly slump since May 2010, to 1,194.27 per dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporters on this story: Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net; Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Garfield Reynolds at greynolds1@bloomberg.net

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