Yen, Norwegian krone strengthen

The US dollar remained quiet against major currencies as investors waited for the Federal Reserve to make its latest decision on interest rates, due Thursday. The greenback held steady in relation to the euro at $1.3440 and it added just 0.1 percent to $1.9220 against sterling. On the other hand, the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.6 percent to $0.7605 versus its US counterpart after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand made comments that indicated it would likely hike interest rates to 8.25 percent soon.

The Japanese yen was stronger again on worries about the US subprime mortgage sector and on gains in retail sales in May. By midday in New York, the yen had was 0.7 percent higher versus the US dollar, the euro and sterling., trading at ¥122.40 versus the greenback, at ¥244.42 in relation to sterling and at ¥164.55 against the euro. Further it was 1.3 percent higher to ¥93.10 versus the New Zealand dollar, while it had added 1.4 percent to ¥102.70 against the Australian dollar.

The Norwegian krone gained on the US dollar and the euro, adding 0.6 percent against each to $5.9385 against the greenback and NKr7.9705 against the euro after Norway’s central bank increased interest rates to 4.5 percent.

Story link: Yen, Norwegian krone strengthen