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.

The euro was stronger versus the US dollar Wednesday on further signs that the US economy is in a recession.

New data showed that US consumer prices dropped 1 percent in October, more than expected, while in the same month US housing starts fell to an annualized rate of 791,000.

In late morning trade in New York, the dollar traded at $1.2581 to the euro as it made back part of its losses to the shared currency, while the Japanese yen was stronger in relation to the greenback at ¥96.765 while the yen traded at ¥121.74 to the euro.

The pound was stronger versus the dollar and the euro after the release of the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, which showed that Bank officials considered a rate cut bigger than the 1.5 percent cut it made on 6 November, although the final vote for the cut to 3 percent was unanimous.

The pound traded at 83.65p to the euro at around 11:30 a.m. in New York while at the same time it took $1.5041 to buy a pound.

The Japanese yen was stronger Monday on the chance that falling equities markets will send investors toward safety and away from risky currencies investments.

The news that Japan’s economy is now in recession was seen as good news for the yen, as economic weakness will also likely discourage investors from using the yen to finance risky carry trades.

In late morning trade in New York the yen was at ¥96.725 to the US dollar, although it had weakened to ¥122.773 to the euro.

The Australia and New Zealand dollars were hurt by Japan’s decline into recession on the likelihood that investors will back out of investments in the two currencies, but both gained back some of their declines later on.

The Aussie was worth 65.21 cents US and ¥63.0792 at late morning in New York while at the same time the kiwi was trading at 55.63 cents US and at ¥53.854.

Declines for the US dollar came on a forecast from the National Association for Business Economics that the US economy will contract by 0.2 percent next year.

The greenback was also hurt by a report from the New York Federal Reserve showing that November manufacturing activity in New York state was at minus 25.4, falling from minus 24.6 in October, leaving manufacturing in the region still in contraction.

Another report from the Fed, however, showed that US industrial production as a whole was up more than expected in October.

The dollar weakened to $1.2693 to the euro in late morning trade in New York.

The pound, meanwhile, gained on both the greenback and the euro after early declines on a forecast from the Confederation of British Industry that the UK economy will contract by 1.7 percent next year and a separate report from Right move (LSE: RMV) showed that asking prices for UK homes fell 7.1 percent in November.

At late morning in New York the pound was trading at 84.33p to the euro while it took $1.5052 to the US dollar.

The Japanese yen gained on the euro and other currencies Wednesday on a mid-course change in US bailout plans, as announced by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The Treasury is abandoning plans to use the $700 billion in bailout money approved by Congress to buy up bad assets and instead will use the money to buy into banks and encourage them to use the money to return to normal lending as well as to help take the pressure off consumer credit in the US.

At nearly noon in New York the yen traded at ¥95.24 to the US dollar and at ¥119.5737 to the euro, while it also gained against the higher-yielding Brazilian real to ¥41.808 and versus the South African rand to ¥9.1649 on the expectation that investors will abandon carry trades.

Meanwhile, the pound weakened versus the euro and the US dollar on comments from Bank of England governor Mervyn King which indicate that more interest rate cuts are in the cards in the UK.

Mr. King said that the UK economy will continue to contract through most of 2009 and that inflation will be below the government’s 2 percent target.

In addition, the Office of National Statistics reported that jobless claims in the UK jumped by 36,500 in October to 980,900 in October, the 9th consecutive month of increases.

The pound traded at 83.68p to the euro in midday trade in New York while it took $1.5003 to buy a pound, putting the UK currency in a slightly better position than it had been earlier in the session.

The Japanese yen gained in relation to a number of currencies Tuesday after the euphoria over China’s announced stimulus package receded, sending equities markets lower and scaring investors away from risky currency trades.

The gains also came ahead of a meeting of the G20 nations - Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union - scheduled to begin Friday in Washington, D.C., where they will address the current global financial crisis.

At just past 10:30 a.m. in New York the yen traded at ¥97.645 to the US dollar and at ¥123.1303 to the euro, while it was at ¥44.118 to the Brazilian real and at ¥9.4807 to the South African rand.

The euro weakened versus the greenback after an official of the European Central Bank said he thinks the Bank will cut forecasts for inflation and economic growth soon, which will make it easier for the Bank to cut interest rates.

It took $1.261 to buy a euro at last report.

The pound, meanwhile, fell against the euro and the dollar after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said UK home sales were down again, as Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) said orders for its homes are down 40 percent from last year, and after the British Retail Consortium said retail sales in the UK were down 2.2 percent in October.

During the morning session in New York, the pound traded at 81.5p to the euro while it took $1.5471 to buy a pound.

The yen weakened Monday on a return to interest in carry trades after China announced a stimulus package worth 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) over the next two years, much of which will be spent on infrastructure improvements in China.

By later in the New York session, however, the yen had made back some of its declines at just before 12:30 p.m. there it traded at ¥125.2356 to the euro, at ¥98.005 to the US dollar, at ¥67.75 to the Australian dollar and at ¥57.482 to the New Zealand dollar.

The euro also gained on the US dollar, which traded at $1.2778 to the shared currency, but the euro stood to lose gains after comments from European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, made during a trip to Brazil, that hinted at more possible Eurozone interest rate cuts from the ECB.

The pound was stronger versus the greenback but weaker versus the euro, trading at 81.56p to the euro while it took $1.5669 to buy a pound, but like the euro gains for the UK currency could be limited by sentiment that the Bank of England could cut interest rates further.

The South African rand made gains earlier on more enthusiasm for risk, but had given back some of those gains by early afternoon trade in New York, when it traded at R10.066 to the US dollar and at R12.862 to the euro while it took ¥9.7362 to buy a rand.

The US dollar was weaker Friday after the Labor Department reported that 240,000 jobs were lost in the United States in October, more than expected.

1.2 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of 2008, with over half of the losses coming in the past three months.

The Labor Department also reported that the unemployment rate was up to 6.5 percent in October, from 6.1 percent in September, its highest since 1994 and higher than it was at any time during the recession of 2001.

This bad news came on top of a report Thursday that 3.843 million people in the US got an unemployment check during the week ending 25 October, the highest number to get checks in a week in 25 years.

In late morning trade in New York, the dollar traded at $1.2789 to the euro while it cost ¥98.125 to buy a dollar.

The Canadian dollar was also up versus the greenback, trading at C$1.1766 to the US dollar after Statistics Canada reported that the number of jobs there went up by 9,500 in October against an expected decrease of 10,000 jobs in the month.

The US dollar declined versus the euro, the pound and the yen after the US election results as investors remained unsure about how President-elect Barack Obama will approach the financial crisis and amid speculation about who Mr. Obama will select as his Treasury Secretary.

The greenback was also hurt by a private report showing that employers in the private sector cut 157,000 jobs in October and by a separate report that said job layoffs last month were 79 percent higher than in October 2007.

The official Labor Department report on jobs, due Friday, is expected to show that 200,000 jobs were lost in October and that the unemployment rate went from 6.1 percent in September to 6.3 percent in October.

Another factor in the dollar’s retreat was release of the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, which dropped to 44.4 in October, a reading showing that the service sector remains in contraction.

Meanwhile, the pound was up not only versus the greenback but also against the euro on speculation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates by 75 basis points when its Monetary Policy Committee meets on Thursday.

The gains for the pound came after early declines spurred by the announcement by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply that its services index dropped to 42.4 in October from 46 in September, showing that the UK services sector, like the US sector, is still contracting.

At just about noon in New York, the pound traded at 80.52p to the euro and it took $1.6156 to buy a pound, while the dollar traded at $1.3009 to the euro and it took ¥98.955 to buy a dollar.

The yen made gains after the Bank of Japan cut interest rates by 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent Friday on a mixed vote of four in favor of the cut as made, three favoring a slightly larger cut of 0.25 percent and one wanting no cut at all.

Later on in morning trade in New York, however, the yen had given back some of those gains to trade at ¥125.3714 to the euro and at ¥98.64 to the US dollar, while the Japanese currency was at ¥64.8311 to the Australian dollar and at ¥58.1 to the New Zealand dollar.

The euro was also lower versus the US currency as inflation in the Eurozone was reported to have dropped to 3.2 percent in October, from 3.6 percent in September.

The decline in inflation makes it more likely that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates, probably to 3.25 percent, in November.

At mid-morning in New York it took $1.2710 to buy a euro.

Meanwhile, the pound also weakened versus the greenback as consumer confidence declined in the UK and expectations rose that the Bank of England will cut interest rates to 4 percent, a drop of half a percentage point, when it meets next.

The pound was also hurt by Thursday’s report form Nationwide Building Society that house prices have fallen more from a year ago than they have fallen in any similar period since 1991 as it has become more difficult to obtain a loan to make a house purchase.

At around 10:30 a.m. in New York the pound traded at 79.13 to the euro while it took $1.6063 to buy a pound.

The US dollar weakened Wednesday ahead of a decision by the US Federal Reserve on interest rates, due later in the day.

Expectations are that the Fed will cut US interest rates by half a percentage point, to 1 percent, at the end of its meeting today.

Helping other currencies to gains against the greenback were comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that a stimulus package for her country will be announced soon and a feeling by traders that yesterday’s declines by the yen were too steep to maintain.

At just before noon in New York the dollar declined to $1.2927 to the euro while the yen gained on the US currency to ¥97.475 even as the yen weakened to ¥126.0059 to the euro.

The pound saw gains on the news that more home mortgages were approved in the UK in September than in August.

Even though approvals remained near historic lows, there were 1,000 more approvals in September to a total of 33,000.

In late morning trade in New York, the pound traded at 79.39p to the euro while it took $1.6323 to buy a pound, representing a gain of 5 percent by the pound versus the greenback in two days.

At the same time, the yen fell to ¥159.1132 in relation to the pound.