Rising eastern sun may lead recovery

THE euro has fallen sharply against the US dollar, to levels not seen since April.

And while data released in the US continued to give cause for cautious optimism, the euro didn't weaken against the dollar because of an improved American economic outlook the single currency fell because investors abandoned the eurozone in favour of Japan.

From an all-time high reached in 1989, the Nikkei index of the leading 225 Japanese shares lost over 500 points to fall to a 20-year low last April. But since April, something remarkable has happened in Japan.