The US dollar crossed the 111 yen mark in Singapore afternoon trade after a US official said it is "not normal" for al-Qaeda to claim responsibility for their attacks, dealers said.
He said the authenticity of a letter to the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabisigned "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades/Al-Qaeda" and claiming responsibility for the bombing in Madrid, which killed 190 people and wounded 1,247, could not be confirmed.
At 6.45 a.m. (Irish time), the dollar was at 111.19 yen compared to 110.87 yen during Tokyo trade. The euro was treading water at $1.2264 from $1.2300 in Tokyo.
A trader with a local bank said that the dollar got a lift past 110 yen after the statement by a US official was circulated in trading rooms during lunch time. "If it's not al-Qaeda, people would be less worried about attacks in US. So they started buying the dollar again," he said.
The dollar gain was also aided by speculations that the Bank of Japan intervened to keep the dollar/yen at the right side of 111 yen before Japan closes its books for its fiscal year end in March, the trader added.
A sharply lower Nikkei 225 close today, hammered by terrorism fears after the Madrid train attacks, also brought on yen selling, which lifted the dollar.