NEW YORK, Dec 13: The US dollar was down marginally against the euro and yen Friday after plunging to a 13-year low against the Japanese currency amid uncertainty over a bailout plan for beleagured American automakers.

The euro rose to $1.3380 on Friday from $1.3350 late Thursday in New York. The dollar also lost ground to 91.06 yen from 91.46 yen on Thursday. The greenback had plunged to 88.40 yen at one point, the lowest level since August 1995, in Asian trading Friday after the US Senate rejected a rescue plan for ailing American automakers.

The single European currency was also down against the surging Japanese currency, falling to 121.82 yen from 122.10 yen.

Experts said the market was concerned about a possible intervention by the Japanese authorities to ease the yen’s appreciation, especially if it broke the 90 mark.

The bigger concern amongst traders though is what will happen if USD/JPY falls below 90, said Terri Belkas, a currency strategist of Forex Capital Markets.

He described the dollar’s fall below 90 yen for the first time since 1995 as “shocking.” There is also speculation that the United States could next week slash rates by as much as 0.75 percentage points to 0.25 per cent, which would be even lower than Japan’s rock-bottom official borrowing costs at 0.3 percent.

The pound fell to $1.4953 on Friday in New York from $1.5010 a day earlier while the dollar fell to 1.1769 Swiss francs from 1.1842.—AFP