Yen weakens as equities gain

Story link: Yen weakens as equities gain

The Japanese yen weakened Thursday as equities markets made gains, encouraging investors to pursue risky currencies trades, many of which are financed by the low-yielding yen.

In late morning trade in New York the yen traded at ¥132.4119 to the euro, at ¥100.355 to the US dollar, at ¥15.0838 to the Norwegian krone, at ¥71.76 to the Australian dollar and at ¥58.3382 to the New Zealand dollar.

The New Zealand dollar was helped by gains in home sales, with 6,694 homes sold in March compared to 5,228 homes sold in February and just 3,706 homes sold in January, according to new data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Inc.

House prices fell by 9.4 percent in March from the same month last year, according to Quotable Value New Zealand.

Additionally, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is widely expected to cut interest rates again at the end of the month.

The kiwi was worth 58.17 cents US at late morning in New York, while the Australian dollar was worth 71.76 cents US.

The US dollar traded at $1.3194 to the euro as the shared currency was hurt by a report from the German government which showed that industrial production is down again there, falling 2.89 percent in February after a decline of 6.1 percent in January.

The euro was also affected by comments from an official of the European Central Bank that Eurozone interest rates could still fall below 1 percent and that the Bank might still purchase government debt in an effort to stimulate the economy.

The greenback, meanwhile was helped by a narrower trade deficit, which was at $26 billion in February, a decline of 28 percent.

The pound weakened after the Bank of England said it will keep putting money into the UK economy by buying government bonds.

The pound was worth $1.4661 and it also declined in relation to the South African rand, to R13.2594, and traded at 48.95p to the Australian dollar.