Yen gains on equities declines

Story link: Yen gains on equities declines

The Japanese yen gained on the euro and the US dollar Monday as investors were expected to abandon purchases of higher-yielding currencies on declines in equities and on reports of declines in manufacturing in the US, the UK, China and Russia.

In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index was reported at 36.2, its lowest in 26 years, indicating that manufacturing activity remains in contraction.

Meanwhile the UK’s Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply said its factory index was at 34.4 in November, down from 40.7 in October.

The yen traded at ¥118.4289 to the euro just before noon in New York, while at the same time it was at ¥93.705 to the US dollar and at ¥139.0816 to the pound.

The pound was also weaker in relation to the euro and the greenback as the UK housing sector continued to falter.

Hometrack Ltd., a website which tracks residential property and housing information, reported that home prices in the UK fell to their lowest in three years in November, while the Bank of England reported that the 32,000 home purchase loan approvals granted in October equaled the fewest approvals in a month since the statistic began to be reported in 1999.

The pound traded at 85.15p to the euro in midday trade in New York while it took $1.4842 to buy a pound.