In currency markets, the yen fell against both the dollar and the euro as markets bet it would be some time before Japan ends its ultra-loose monetary policy. The yen's slide came despite data showing Japan's first rise in consumer prices in two years. "The yen will stay under pressure because of interest rate differentials. I am not so confident how this rise in CPI will enhance the chance for a premature interest rate hike in Japan," Armin Mekelburg, currency strategist at Hypovereinsbank in Munich, said. The dollar was up 0.7 percent buying 117.10 yen, while the euro bought 139 yen, up almost 1 percent. The euro also nudged higher against the dollar, buying $1.1872.