The yen fell against the dollar for the first time this month as a flurry of central bank interest- rate cuts helped arrest a slump in Asian equities, bolstering confidence in higher-yielding assets.
Japan's currency declined versus the euro, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar after the U.S., Europe and South Korea lowered borrowing costs to counter the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Group-of-Seven ministers meeting tomorrow may say the yen's 4.6 percent advance this week against the greenback has been too rapid.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the G-7 will meet for two days in Washington to discuss the financial crisis, which has already led to bank bailouts in most of the member nations. The group comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., the U.S. and Japan.
The Federal Reserve reduced its target lending rate by a half-percentage point to 1.5 percent yesterday, while the European Central Bank and counterparts from the U.K., Canada, Sweden and Switzerland also announced cuts. Central banks in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan lowered their key rates and the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark for the first time in four years.
The dollar gained on speculation financial institutions will seek to buy more of the currency in the foreign-exchange market due to the reluctance of banks to lend to each other.
EUR/USD has established a session low on $1.3575 then has risen above a level $1,3700
GBP/USD having reached a mark $1.7165, has updated a low then has risen in area $1.7300
USD/JPY the pair has risen from a level of opening of today's session on Y99,10 in area Y101,20. Continues to come nearer to yesterday's high on Y101,68.
US data starts at 1230GMT, when jobless claims are expected to fall 22,000 to 475,000 in the October 4 week. US wholesale inventories for August are due at 1400GMT, ahead of the weekly natural gas stocks data at 1435GMT.