Risk appetite hurts yen, Swiss franc

Risk appetite hurts yen, Swiss franc

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The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, both traditionally seen as safe haven currencies in times of economic and political trouble, were weaker Thursday on reduced demand as investors hoped that the worst of the global financial crisis is over and were willing to make riskier deals for higher-yielding currencies.

Additionally, the yen was hurt by expectations that Japan’s trade ministry will report Friday that retail sales in Japan were down for the sixth consecutive month in February.

At nearly noon in New York, the yen traded at ¥133.6722 to the euro and at ¥98.61 to the greenback, while the Swiss franc traded at SFr1.5275 to the shared currency and it took $1.3556 to buy a euro.

Meanwhile, the higher-yielding South African rand and Mexican peso both gained on the US dollar as demand for the higher-yielding currencies accelerated.

With South African interest rates currently at 9.5 percent, the rand traded at R9.3755 to the US dollar while the Mexican peso traded at 14.227 pesos to the greenback as Mexican interest rates stood at 6.75 percent.