Yen, pound weaker

Yen, pound weaker

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The yen weakened in relation to the US dollar and the euro on Friday, while the pound also weakened after news that UK retail sales dropped in December.

Hurt by a return to risk by some investors, the yen traded at ¥106.9600 to the dollar in early afternoon trade in New York while it was at ¥156.4717 to the euro and at ¥209.1640 to the pound.

The Japanese currency’s biggest losses came versus the South African and Australian currencies, as it traded at ¥15.130 to the rand and at ¥93.9376 to the Australian dollar.

The pound also dropped in relation to both the dollar and the euro, hurt by a report from the Office of National Statistics that showed retail sales in the UK down by 0.4 percent in December after a gain of 0.4 percent in November and against an expected gain of 0.2 percent.

It was the biggest decline in sales in nearly a year.

At just before 1 p.m. in New York, a pound was worth $1.9555 while it traded at 74.81p to the euro.

The US dollar was helped by new numbers from the Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index which showed that consumer confidence is up in January, rising from a reading of 75.5 in December to 80.5 this month.

Also aiding the greenback was a statement from the president of the Richmond branch of the Fed, who said that new evidence that the US economy is having trouble has him more inclined to consider voting to cut interest rates again.

In early afternoon trade the dollar traded at $1.4629 versus the euro, a bit of a gain over Thursday’s level.