The Japanese yen strengthened against major currencies Thursday as a fall in Asian equities sparked risk aversion, while the U.S. dollar was mixed against its major global counterparts. The U.S. dollar fell to 93.51 yen in Asian afternoon trade, down from 94.22 yen in New York late Wednesday. The yen also strengthened against major currencies, with the Australian dollar down sharply at 77.37 yen from 78.02 yen, while the euro bought 133.39 yen from 134.23 yen. The Japanese unit drew strength from lower risk appetite for assets in other currencies, as Asia shares traded down. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average closed 1.2% lower, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was off 0.9% late in the afternoon session. Meanwhile, the euro advanced against the greenback, rising to $1.4255, from $1.4241, but the British pound lost ground, changing hands at $1.6202, down from $1.6230. The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 78.63, inching down from 78.66 late Wednesday. Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=CIsrIqgd%2BLmkhB0nEsDfWg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

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