TOKYO, Nov 15: The dollar jumped to 122 yen in Tokyo on Thursday after market rumours Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect for the September 11, attacks on the United States, had been detained.

The greenback traded at 122.16-18 yen up sharply from 121.56 yen in New York and 121.70-72 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday.

Investors bought the dollar on unconfirmed rumors that bin Laden was captured, said Hideyuki Tsukamoto, dealer at Fuji Bank.

The dollar got a boost as investors hoped the war in Afghanistan would end soon, said Tsukamoto. At one point in Tokyo, the US unit rose to a high of 122.30 yen.

But market players quickly locked away profits as the rumours proved groundless, dealers said.

Aside from bin Laden being captured, there were rumours of bin Laden being killed or him already fleeing to Pakistan, Tsukamoto said.

The dollar also received support from strong US retail sales data for October, which rose a record 7.1 per cent, well above Wall Street predictions, showing consumer spending is more resilient than previously forecast.

The record increase in October retail sales was the strongest since data began to be compiled on its current basis in 1992.

The strong retail figure underpinned the dollar, Tsukamoto said.

A two-day policy meeting by the Bank of Japan, which started Thursday afternoon, was largely discounted, dealers said.

Meanwhile, the euro bought $0.8807-09 compared to $0.8823 in New York and $0.8801 in Tokyo late Wednesday.

In Tokyo trade, the dollar gained against the euro on the same reason for the dollar-yen trading, Tsukamoto said.

A continued rebound in US equities has also hurt the euro, though the European currency has found some near-term support around the 88-cent level, said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. chief foreign exchange analyst Koji Fukaya.

The US stock market has been bullish and it pushes the dollar higher and depreciates the euro, Fukaya said, but added the greenback did not necessarily have a clear path to further gains.

Against the yen, the euro was quoted at 107.51 around 5:00 pm, compared with 107.28 in New York and 107.14 in Tokyo Wednesday afternoon.

In late Singapore trade, the US dollar was at 1.8335 Singapore dollars from 1.8258 on Tuesday. Financial markets in Singapore were closed Wednesday for a public holiday.

The greenback was steady against the Thai baht at 44.435, but it dropped to 52.027 Philippine pesos from 52.095, 10,633 Indonesian rupiah from 10,665, 34.483 Taiwan dollars from 34.507 and 1,283.35 South Korean won from 1,287.35.—AFP