The euro gained yesterday versus the dollar as traders succeeded on their third attempt at pushing the currency past $1.4720, a technical level just above the Dec. 18 high. The Mexican peso and South African rand were two of the biggest winners against the dollar and yen among the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg, on increased risk demand.

The dollar changed hands at $1.4713 per euro at 6:04 a.m. in Tokyo, after trading yesterday at $1.4737, the weakest level since Sept. 25, 2008. The yen was at 90.93 per dollar and touched 90.13, the strongest level since Feb. 12. Japan’s currency fetched 133.78 per euro.

The peso gained 0.9 percent to 13.17 versus the dollar and the rand advanced 0.4 percent to 12.41 yen on speculation investors will increase carry trades, in which they sell the currency of a nation with low interest rates and buy assets where returns are higher. The U.S. target lending rate of zero to 0.25 percent and Japan’s 0.1 percent benchmark compare with 7 percent in South Africa and 4.5 percent in Mexico.