Recession worries help yen to gains

The Japanese yen and the US dollar were stronger in early trade in New York Thursday as equities markets declined on worries that US plans to overcome the recession will not be sufficient.

The dollar was helped by a report from the Commerce Department showing that retail sales were up 1 percent in the United States in January.

The euro weakened after a report showing that Eurozone industrial production was down by 12 percent in December and after a cut in the European Central Bank’s outlooks for inflation and growth in 2010, leading to speculation that the ECB will cut interest rates in the region again soon.

In morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥115.6118 to the euro, at ¥90.605 to the greenback, and at ¥128.8101 to the pound.

At the same time, the pound traded at 89.75 to the shared currency while the US dollar traded at $1.276 to the euro and at $1.4217 to the pound.

The pound was weaker after the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that loans granted for home purchases in the UK were down 49 percent to just 516,000 in 2008.

Story link: Recession worries help yen to gains