LONDON (AFX) - The yen firmed in early London trade, benefiting from rising shares, a softer dollar and comments from Japanese officials that the unit's rise was not a concern, dealers said. "The yen's move was sparked by comments from officials suggesting that the yen's strength was nothing to worry about," Ian Stannard, strategist at BNP Paribas, said. The measures taken by the Japanese government to shore up asset prices, in the shape of restriction on the short selling of stocks, seem to be working, he said, adding that fund managers, who have been underweight Japanese assets appeared to be feeling a little bit left out. The strategist expects the yen to draw some support from fund managers increasing their Japanese assets on the back of the unit's recent performance. Meanwhile, the euro rose passed the 0.88 usd level, as sentiment on the dollar was dented by the US administration's decision to impose tariffs on imported steel. Michael Klawitter, currency analyst at WestLB said the momentum on the euro/dollar pair remains to the upside on the back of the dollar/yen development as well as mergers and acquisitions flows. "While this move carries euro/dollar above the resistance of 0.88, it has little to do with genuine euro strength," he said. This view was echoed by BNP's Stannard. He said the euro's move could be slowed by the expected upward revision in Q4 productivity numbers, due at 1.00 pm. With the European Central Bank expected to leave rates unchanged at 12.45 pm after today's meeting, and with the 1.30 pm press conference is unlikely to bring any surprise, they added. Sterling was firm against the euro following the release of the Halifax house price index, which showed the fastest year-on-year rate since 1989. While the Bank of England is widely expected to leave interest rates on hold at 4.00 pct when it announced at midday today, WestLB analysts said today's data confirms the view that the Bank will be the first among the major central banks to raise rates. Separately, the announcement by Imperial Tobacco that it will purchase Reetsman for 5.2 bln euro should could put slight short-term pressure on sterling. There is a growing body of opinion that the Australian dollar will be the biggest beneficiary of the global economic recovery this year. The Australia economy is enjoying the fastest growth in the OECD, and is growing four times faster than the US economy. Klawitter said that with industrial commodity prices, including oil, and the major global equity markets surging, there is little to hold the Australia dollar back, particularly as the dollar softens.