Government resignations hurt pound

Story link: Government resignations hurt pound

The pound weakened Friday on more upheaval in the UK government and the Japanese yen was hurt on sentiment that risk appetite will increase, while the US dollar was stronger on better-than-expected jobs news.

More resignations by government officials in the UK and new calls for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to resign hurt the pound as Mr. Brown instead made changes in his cabinet, reshuffling the Health Secretary to the Home Office as the Defence Minister became the most recent official to resign.

At nearly 11 a.m. in New York, the pound traded at 87.44p to the euro while it took $1.6021 to buy a pound.

The US dollar gained on the yen and the euro on a report that fewer US jobs were lost last month than had been expected as the Labor Department said that 345,000 jobs were lost in the US last month, 175,000 fewer than analyst estimates.

However, because more people are seeking work the unemployment rate in the US rose to 9.4 percent last month.

In late morning trade, the greenback traded at $1.4008 to the euro while it took ¥97.945 to buy a dollar and it cost ¥137.1971 to buy a euro.

The yen also lost ground to the Australia and New Zealand dollars on speculation that there would be more demand for the higher-yielding Aussie and kiwi, with purchases financed by the lower-yielding yen.

The yen traded at ¥79.95 to the Australian currency while at the same time it was at ¥62.22 to the New Zealand dollar.