The dollar dropped to a 14-year low against the yen. Asian stocks declined, led by Japanese exporters, and European stocks fell, Bloomberg reported.

The yen strengthened 0.5 percent versus the dollar to 86.89 at 7:10 a.m. in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4 percent and Japan’s Topix Index lost 0.5 percent, dragged down by automakers. The Dow Jones Stoxx Index of European companies lost 1 percent. Gold dropped 0.3 percent after earlier rising to a record $1,196.80 an ounce.
The dollar fell to the lowest since July 1995 after the Federal Reserve said on Nov. 24 that its drop was “orderly,” a signal to traders that the U.S. won’t prop up the currency as the world’s largest economy recovers from the first global recession since World War II. The dollar’s decline threatens profits for Asia’s exporters after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 32 percent this year to trade at 1.5 times book value, up from 1.03 in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Gold for immediate delivery climbed to as high as $1,195.13 an ounce, compared with yesterday’s close of $1,191.80. Zinc futures in Shanghai rallied as much as 1.8 percent to 19,000 yuan a ton before trading at 18,415 yuan.
Oil fell 1.2 percent to $77.05 a barrel in New York as traders sold contracts to lock in gains ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and after the U.S. Energy Department said crude inventories at the world’s largest energy consumer rose.