Yen gains on US jobs data

Yen gains on US jobs data

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The yen gained on the US dollar and the euro after the US Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims were up last week.

New claims for unemployment checks were at 542,000 last week, many more than expected and the most in a week in 16 years.

Meanwhile, the yen also gained on the Australian dollar and the South African rand as more trouble for the economy raised the prospect that investors would avoid risky carry trades in which higher-yielding currencies purchases are financed with the lower-yielding yen.

At noon in New York, the yen traded at ¥94.885 to the US dollar while it was at ¥118.8387 to the euro, at ¥58.7291 to the Australian dollar and at ¥8.8953 to the rand.

The pound declined versus the greenback, the euro and the yen after a report showing that retail sales in the UK were down.

The pound traded at 84.69p to the euro at midday in New York while it cost $1.4789 or ¥140.3296 to buy a pound.

The shared currency gained on the greenback as it took $1.2525 to buy a euro.