Investing.com - The dollar fell to one-month lows against the yen on Wednesday as oil prices continued to drop amid a wider selloff in commodities, sparking fears over the global inflation outlook and boosting safe-haven demand.
USD/JPY hit lows of 116.75 overnight, the weakest since December 17 and was last down 0.64% to 117.14.
Sentiment on commodities was hit after the World Bank cut its forecasts for global growth on Tuesday, adding to fears over the faltering economic recovery. Oil prices continued to tumble on Wednesday after falling to almost six year lows in the previous session, after OPEC said it will not cut output despite a global supply glut.
The rout in oil, which has halved in value in six months, has fuelled concerns of exacerbating already low levels of inflation in many major world economies, including the euro zone.
Data last week showed that consumer prices in the euro area fell in December for the first time since October 2009.
The euro edged higher, with EUR/USD easing up 0.21% to 1.1796, off the nine-year low of 1.1752 struck on Tuesday.
The single currency’s gains were held in check amid heightened expectations that the European Central Bank could implement quantitative easing measures as soon as its next meeting on January 22.
The euro fell to two-and-a-half month lows against the firmer yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.48% to 138.14.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slid to 92.30, off the 12-year peaks of 92.76 scaled last week.