Yen, Swiss franc weaker

The yen weakened on Thursday after equities markets in the Asian region returned to gains after widespread declines on Wednesday.

By mid-afternoon in New York, the yen had dropped 0.9 percent against both the US dollar and sterling, to ¥117.90 and ¥231.40 respectively, while it was 1 percent lower versus the euro, to ¥157.25. The New Zealand and Australian dollars both gained on the yen, with the Aussie adding 1 percent to ¥95.17, while the New Zealand currency was 1.2 percent higher to ¥84.12.

The euro was stronger against both the US dollar and sterling. The shared currency gained 0.1 percent on sterling, to £0.6793, while it added 0.2 percent to $1.3340 in relation to the greenback. The euro did, however, suffer versus the Polish zloty, which added 0.5 percent to 3.865 zlotys to the euro. The zloty’s gain came when Standard & Poor’s upped its rating on Poland’s foreign currency debt.

The Swiss franc was 0.2 percent lower versus both the US dollar and the euro, to SFr1.2180 and SFr1.6240 respectively. The declines came after the Swiss National Bank said that economic production will fall toward non-inflationary levels.

Sterling gained 0.1 percent on the US dollar, to $1.9630 on good news concerning retail sales from the Confederation of British Industry and on a report from the Bank of England showing that mortgage lending was still strong.

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