Mexican peso weakens as flu outbreak continues

The Mexican peso was hurt by the spreading swine flu outbreak there on concerns that the economy will be hurt as fewer tourists bring foreign currencies into the country and as Mexican consumers spend less as those concerned about contracting the disease stay home.

In late morning trade in New York, the Mexican currency traded at 13.7402 pesos to the dollar while it took ¥7.0337 to buy a peso.

Meanwhile, the US dollar and the yen benefited from the concerns as investors looked for safe places to put their money, but the Australian and New Zealand dollars and the South African rand all weakened on worries that the flu will spread, weakening the global economy.

The yen traded at ¥126.6986 to the shared currency while it took $1.3116 to buy a euro, while the Japanese currency was at ¥96.61 to the greenback ahead of a report which could say that the US economy shrank by 4.7 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was worth 71.51 cents US, it took 56.86 cents US to buy a New Zealand dollar, and the South African rand traded at R8.7564 to the greenback.

The pound weakened on more bad news about house prices and mortgage approvals and a prediction from a former UK treasury advisor that the decline in house prices could bring on a 1930s-style depression.

At nearly 11:30 a.m. in New York it took $1.4648 to buy a pound while the yen traded at ¥141.4897 to the UK currency, but the pound was stronger versus the euro as it traded at 89.55p to the shared currency.

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