The dollar sank to a fresh 14-year low against the yen Friday in Asia as worries about Dubai"s debt mountain drove investors to buy safe haven assets like the yen, AP reported. The Japanese currency briefly touched 84.41 yen _ the lowest since mid-1995 _ before bouncing back to 86.05 yen. The euro, meanwhile, weakened to $1.4931 from $1.5021 late Thursday. Concerns about debt problems afflicting Dubai have caused investors to flee riskier assets. Dubai World, a government investment fund with debts totaling around $60 billion, has asked creditors if it can postpone payments until May. The move toward higher-yielding investments in emerging markets had been growing recently on hopes the world was recovering from the financial crisis. But Dubai"s problems have reminded investors of the risks involved, said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager at the foreign exchange section of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in Tokyo. «Everyone wants to pull back on the risks, cash in on investments in emerging markets and make an exit,» he said. Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the yen"s sharp rise against the dollar is «one-sided» and reiterated concern that it would hurt the nation"s export-dependent economy. Fujii suggested Tokyo may ask for cooperation from the United States and European nations to calm markets. «That may be one of the options we could take depending on conditions,» he said, according to Kyodo News agency. Expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain extremely low are also weighing on the dollar, which has slid steadily over the last few weeks.
