Yen, Swiss franc, US dollar all see gains

The yen and the Swiss franc were both stronger Thursday amid declines in the equities markets and as investors once more looked for safe places to put their money as they continued to worry about credit markets.

The yen traded at ¥111.0050 versus the US dollar while it was at ¥162.2780 against the euro and at ¥98.6834 in relation to the Australian dollar.

Meanwhile, the Swiss franc stood at SFr1.1235 to the US dollar, at SFr1.6424 to the euro and at SFr2.2967 versus sterling.

The US dollar was also stronger on the session, trading at $1.4619 to the euro in early afternoon trade in New York as US Treasury bonds looked like a good, safe place for investors to put their money.

Meanwhile, sterling weakened on a new report showing that retail sales fell 0.1 percent in the UK in October, giving analysts another reason to believe the Bank of England will cut interest rates, and on word that Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) took £1.3 billion in writedowns due to exposure to the subprime crisis in the United States.

At just past 1:30 pm in New York, the US dollar was trading at $2.0444 to the pound while the yen stood at ¥226.9331 to the pound and the euro was at €1.3984 to the pound.

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