The yen strengthened as stocks fell and the International Monetary Fund said its 26 billion-euro ($38 billion) loan to Portugal “entails important risks,” spurring demand for the Japanese currency as a refuge.
The euro slid from an almost four-week high versus the dollar after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said bondholders must contribute a “substantial” share of a second aid package for Greece. The yen rose to the strongest in a month against the dollar as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the “frustratingly slow” U.S. recovery warrants sustained monetary stimulus. The MSCI World Index declined 0.4 percent.
“Lack of clarity about a solution to the debt crisis in Europe and concern about the economic outlook in the U.S. damped appetite for risk,” said Neil Jones, head of European hedge- fund sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in London. “The environment supports the yen partly because it reduced demand to use it to fund investment in higher-yielding currencies.”
The pound fell against the dollar and the euro after Moody’s Investors Service said the U.K. risks losing its top credit ranking should growth remain weak. It said the outlook on the country’s rating is “stable.”

US data starts at 1100GMT with the weekly MBA Mortgage Application Index, while is followed at 1400GMT by Q1 Services data and then at 1430GMT by the weekly EIA Crude Oil Stocks data. The Fed Beige Book, the Fed's compilation of anecdotal evidence about conditions in the 12 District Bank regions, is due at 1800GMT.