1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar falls against yen amid global rout

The U.S. dollar decreased against the Japanese yen on Tuesday as declining stocks across the globe spurred market demand for safe-haven currencies.

U.S. stocks ended lower Tuesday after wavering below the flatline in a narrow range. European equities traded sharply lower Tuesday with the German benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange tumbling more than 2 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo shares ended sharply lower on Tuesday with its benchmark Nikkei stocks index plunging to a two-month low.

Global rout in equity markets fueled investors' need for safe-haven assets like the yen. The Japanese currency rose 0.75 percent against the greenback in late trading on Tuesday.

On the U.S. economic front, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday that the goods and services deficit was 47.1 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 1.2 billion dollars from the revised January reading.

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1386 dollars from 1.1399 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.4151 dollars from 1.4280 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7530 dollars from 0.7609 dollars.

The dollar bought 110.43 Japanese yen, lower than 111.23 yen of the previous session. The dollar slipped to 0.9562 Swiss francs from 0.9587 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.3163 Canadian dollars from 1.3065 Canadian dollars. Endit