Yen Rises

Yen Rises as U.S. Stock Futures Decline on Recession Concerns
By Stanley White

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The yen rose against the dollar and the euro after U.S. stock futures fell, prompting investors to pare holdings of higher-yielding assets funded with Japan's currency.

The yen gained against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, two favorites of carry trades, as Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell as much as 2 percent. The dollar fell against the British pound as the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates later today before data that may show the world's largest economy contracted the most since 2001.

``Once futures started falling, there was a rush to sell dollars and other currencies for yen,'' said Motonari Ogawa, director of currency trading in Tokyo at Barclays Capital Inc., a unit of the U.K.'s third-biggest bank. ``People are nervous about how stocks will react to the Fed and they want to avoid risk.''

The yen rose to 96.41 per dollar at 2:25 p.m. in Tokyo from 98.03 late yesterday in New York. Against the euro, it advanced to 121.88 from 124.32. The euro fell to $1.2642 from $1.2683. The pound rose to $1.60 from $1.5901. Japan's currency may rise to 95 per dollar today, Ogawa said.

Courtesy: Convert Currency | Bloomberg.com