By Hiroyuki Kachi 
 

The yen was stronger against its rivals during Asia trade Wednesday, as another round of selloffs of Tokyo stocks dampened sentiment to induce buying of the safe-haven Japanese currency.

The U.S. currency weakened to as low as Y114.25, just above its 15-month low of Y114.20 set on Tuesday, before regaining slightly to Y114.43 around 0450 GMT. It was well below Y115.01 late Tuesday in New York.

"This is just a continuation of the ongoing unstable market tend," said Marito Ueda, director at FX Prime by GMO, referring to somewhat choppy trade during the Asia session.

The Japanese currency has gained momentum in recent trade with nervous investors seeking shelter from a deepening risk-aversion mood caused by the continued plunge in oil prices and a big selloff in global stocks. Adding to investors' concerns is the health of the banking sector in Europe, especially Deutsche Bank AG, whose shares have fallen sharply.

Sentiment was bruised once again during the Asia session Wednesday, with the Nikkei sliding further. The benchmark index dropped 4.0% at midday to 15440.41, on track to end lower after losing 918.86 points Tuesday.

The index has lost all gains since the Bank of Japan implemented a powerful monetary stimulus in October 2014, threatening to undermine Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic-revival plan.

The prime minister said Wednesday he will carefully watch Japan's stock markets, but added that the country's economy is on "solid" footing and that many economists attribute the rout to overseas rather than domestic factors.

Investors are now shifting their focus to semiannual congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday, as they remain jittery over what comments she will make to calm the turbulence in global financial markets.

But some Tokyo-based dealers and analysts expect nothing in particular that would give a positive boost to the market. "We are not seeing the market that can move on Ms. Yellen's remarks," said Mr. Ueda, adding that Ms. Yellen is unlikely to surprise in her testimony and instead is more likely to provide mixed intelligence that can be interpreted either way.

The Japanese currency also strengthened against the euro, which dropped to Y129.25 from Y129.93 late Tuesday. The U.K. pound fell to Y165.55 from Y166.35.

The Australian dollar dropped to Y80.62 from Y81.28.

In other currency-pair trading, the euro was largely unchanged against the dollar with the common currency changing hands at $1.1289 from $1.1294.

The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.04% at 89.24.

 
 
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT 
 
                           Latest       Previous   %Chg    Daily    Daily   %Chg 
Dollar Rates                               Close            High      Low  12/31 
 
USD/JPY Japan           114.39-40      115.12-13  -0.63   115.26   114.26  -4.91 
EUR/USD Euro            1.1289-92      1.1292-95  -0.03   1.1312   1.1284  +3.96 
GBP/USD U.K.            1.4465-67      1.4470-72  -0.03   1.4480   1.4456  -1.83 
USD/CHF Switzerland     0.9725-29      0.9726-30  -0.01   0.9748   0.9711  -2.92 
USD/CAD Canada          1.3918-23      1.3866-71  +0.37   1.3922   1.3867  +0.59 
AUD/USD Australia       0.7043-47      0.7068-72  -0.35   0.7080   0.7038  -3.32 
NZD/USD New Zealand     0.6605-11      0.6632-38  -0.41   0.6647   0.6605  -3.29 
 
Euro Rate 
 
EUR/JPY Japan           129.13-17      129.98-30  -0.65   130.12   129.09  -1.25 
 
Source: Tullett Prebon 
 

Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2016 00:34 ET (05:34 GMT)