Yen falls in wake of elections

The euro was flat against the dollar Monday, as the yen came under pressure in the wake of Japan's elections. At 2200 GMT, the euro was at $1.3161, matching late Friday's value. The euro gained to 110.40 yen from 109.94, while the greenback rose to 83.87 yen from 83.52 yen. In earlier Asian trade, the dollar surged to 84.48 yen -- its highest since April last year. In Japan, the conservative opposition swept to victory in national polls on Sunday as former premier Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ousted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from power. Abe campaigned in part on a platform of promoting further monetary easing to pump up the Japanese economy. "The yen immediately gapped lower to start the week, but has since recovered ground -- and on the surface, given Mr. Abe's intended policies for the BoJ (Bank of Japan), this makes little sense," said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX. "But a deeper look into various yen-crosses... suggests that a technical rebound could be due." Investors were also eyeing movement on the so-called fiscal cliff, the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect in the United States in January if politicians fail to reach a deal. On Monday, President Barack Obama hosted top Republican lawmaker John Boehner in the White House in the latest effort to avert going over the so-called cliff, which experts fear could plunge the United States back into recession. The dollar rose against the Swiss franc to 0.9175 francs, while the British pound edged higher to $1.6203.