By Ian Chua
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The yen was broadly softer early on Friday as demand for the safe-haven currency waned after a rebound in oil prices helped spur a rally on Wall Street.
The dollar flirted with 113.00 yen, almost two yen higher from this week's trough. The euro was back above 124.00 yen, well off a three-year low of 122.465 set on Wednesday. The Australian dollar neared 82.00 yen, having bounced off a low of 79.57.
Against the greenback, the euro appeared to have found a floor just above $1.1000, following a two-week slide from a 3-1/2 month high of $1.1377.
Crude oil futures jumped 3 percent on Thursday after confirmation of a meeting of major producers held out the hope of an output freeze to address a global glut.
The better risk sentiment should continue through the Asian session given an absence of major economic data.
With the recent market turbulence in mind, investors are looking for reassurance from finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of 20 nations, who are gathered in Shanghai for a two-day meeting starting Friday.
"Overall, a constructive message from the G20 could support an already ongoing recovery in risk sentiment, but ultimately the ability of global growth data to improve will be more important," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note to clients.
U.S. data on Thursday were generally positive with durable goods orders rising by the most in 10 months in January. New applications for unemployment benefits continued to point to a tightening labour market.
In Europe, inflation remained almost non-existent in January with consumer prices growing a mere 0.3 percent year-on-year. That was down from an earlier estimate of 0.4 percent and well below the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of close to 2 percent.
The latest figures only cemented the market's view that the ECB will have to add more stimulus soon, likely in March.
(Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by Eric Meijer)
