Yen loses post-Brexit gains

Tokyo - The yen on Tuesday briefly wiped out all of the gains in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, with central bank stimulus speculation holding back the unit.

Japan's currency - seen as a safe investment in times of turmoil - soared to around 100 against the greenback after the shock results of Britain's June 23 referendum pushed world financial markets into a tailspin.

Traders had piled into the yen again late Friday as military factions in Turkey attempted to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan's quick assertion of his power within hours stifled the putsch, and with the country appearing calm by the end of the weekend, traders were encouraged back to equities and riskier currencies.

In Tokyo on Tuesday, the yen briefly weakened to ¥106.33/$, wiping out its post-Brexit gains, before clawing back to ¥106.05 later in afternoon trading, against ¥106.14 in New York.

Speculation that the Bank of Japan will unleash more easing measures after a meeting next week has weighed on the yen, after the Japanese government pledged to unveil a separate round of stimulus.

"The dollar-yen (rate) should be supported over the next week or so at least, in anticipation of fresh stimulus from the Bank of Japan and fiscal policy," Sean Callow, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Westpac Banking in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.

"An improved risk environment also helps the pair."

The euro jumped to ¥117.40 from ¥115.70 and edged lower to $1.1073 from $1.1075 in US trade.

In other trading, the Australian and New Zealand dollars dropped on speculation that their central banks will cut interest rates next month to boost growth.

The Australian dollar was down 0.89% at 75.24 US cents, while the Kiwi currency stood at 70.38c, down 1.11%.