LONDON, Oct 15: The yen emerged the winner against the dollar and euro on Wednesday, with Japan seen as a relative safe haven in the financial storm amid fears of a sharp and potentially deep recession.

In late European trade, the euro was at 137.79 yen, down from 139.01 yen in New York late Tuesday. The euro also fell to $1.3547 from $1.3618.

The dollar was lower at 101.54 yen from 102.07 yen.

Dealers said the euro was hit by fears of a slowdown in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, after very downbeat remarks by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The dollar, meanwhile, was under pressure after Janet Yellen, head of the San Francisco branch of the Federal Reserve, said Tuesday that the United States “appears to be in a recession.”

Much weaker-than-expected retail sales and other US data did not help and against that backdrop, the yen looked a reasonable bet, dealers said.—AFP