Yen hurt by fewer jobs, lower prices

The yen was weaker Friday as Japan’s unemployment rate was reported at 5.7 percent in July and as consumer prices dropped 2.2 percent from last year.

The yen recovered slightly as the session progressed on a new US consumer confidence report, but the news on jobs and deflation seemed make it more likely that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will lose Sunday’s elections in Japan.

In late morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥134.4186 to the euro while it was at ¥93.515 to the greenback and traded at ¥78.9156 to the Australian dollar on the possibility that investors will start to look for more risky investments.

The euro was helped by a gain in Eurozone business and consumer sentiment, which stood at 80.6 in August, higher than analysts had expected, with a euro worth $1.4274 at just before 11:30 a.m. in New York.

The pound was a bit stronger in early trade, but by late morning in New York it had given back some of its gains to trade at 88.15p to the euro while at the same time it took $1.6305 to buy a pound.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar traded higher at C$1.0838 to the US currency as US equities markets and oil prices were both higher.

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