The Japanese yen weakened Tuesday as good news from US retailers spurred investors to look for riskier investments among higher-yielding currencies.

US retail sales were up 2.7 percent in August; excluding auto sales, they were still up 1.1 percent in the month.

In afternoon trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥90.955 to the US dollar and at ¥133.1893 to the euro, while it took $1.4643 to buy a euro.

Meanwhile, the pound was weaker on comments from Bank of England Governor Mervyn King indicating that the Bank could soon cut the rate paid for the Bank of hold reserves.

Banks are now paid 0.5 percent on deposits of their reserves held by the Bank.

The pound traded at 88.89p to the shared currency in afternoon trade in New York, while it took $1.6403 to buy a pound.

The news that US retail sales had gone up so much in August helped the Canadian dollar higher versus its US counterpart as it traded at C$1.0736 to the greenback during the afternoon session in New York.

The US dollar weakened Friday on decreased demand in favor of higher yielding currencies after a Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed US consumer sentiment at 70.2 in September, from 65.7 last month.

The rise in sentiment sent investors looking for riskier investments at the expense of the lower-yielding dollar.

However, the greenback gained back its decline versus the euro after reports of a Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River on the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001.

The training exercise, which had not been reported in advance to other agencies including the Harbor Patrol and the Secret Service, frightened some after a report, later dismissed, of shorts fired, as it took place near a route used by a presidential motorcade to take US President Barack Obama to an event at the Pentagon in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks.

At 2:36 p.m. in New York, the dollar traded at $1.4594 to the euro while the yen was at ¥90.515 to the US dollar and at ¥132.1001 to the shared currency.

Meanwhile, the pound gained on the euro and the dollar after the Office for National Statistics reported a gain of 0.2 percent in UK producer prices in August from July’s level.

The pound traded at 87.46 to the euro while it took $1.6686 to buy a pound in afternoon trade in New York.

The pound saw gains Tuesday after an unexpectedly large rise in U.K. factory output in July while at the same time Germany’s industrial production dropped by 0.9 percent in July from June when analysts had predicted that Germany’s output would rise by 1.6 percent in July.

Factory output in the U.K. was up 0.9 percent in July after it was forecast to rise by only 0.3 percent in the month.

Additionally, the British currency rose and then gave back part of its gains by early afternoon in New York ahead of this week’s meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, where the Bank is expected to hold interest rates at 0.5 percent and not add any more money to the Bank’s program to purchase assets to help out the economy.

At just before 12:30 in New York the pound traded at 87.81p to the euro while it took $1.6523 to buy a pound.

The Japanese yen gained after fewer corporate bankruptcies were reported there, with 1 percent fewer of the bankruptcies filed in August from the same month last year.

The yen was also up on the possibility that the Democratic Party of Japan will not intervene to weaken the yen after it takes over power on 16 September.

Meanwhile, the US dollar declined versus the yen and the euro on gains in equities markets, which increased investor confidence and sent them looking for riskier deals.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the yen traded at 92.175 to the US dollar and at 133.742 to the euro while it took $1.451 to buy a euro.

The Australian dollar also gained on the greenback, trading at 86.38 cents US to the Aussie on speculation that investors will be looking for more carry trades.

The yen was weaker Friday as Japan’s unemployment rate was reported at 5.7 percent in July and as consumer prices dropped 2.2 percent from last year.

While the yen recovered slightly as the session progressed on a new US consumer confidence report, the new data on jobs and deflation seemed to point toward a greater possibility that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will lose Sunday’s elections in Japan.

In late morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥134.4186 to the euro while it was at ¥93.515 to the greenback and traded at ¥78.9156 to the Australian dollar on speculation that demand for risky investments will grow.

The euro was helped by a gain in Eurozone business and consumer sentiment, which stood at 80.6 in August, higher than analysts had expected.

At nearly 11:30 a.m. in New York it took $1.4274 to buy a euro.

The pound was a bit stronger in early trade, but by late morning in New York it had given back some of its gains to trade at 88.15p to the euro while at the same time it took $1.6305 to buy a pound.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar traded higher at C$1.0838 to the US currency as US equities markets and oil prices saw gains.

The US dollar weakened in relation to the euro and the yen Tuesday as US consumer confidence was reported up in August and as home prices fell less quickly, reducing demand for the greenback as a safe investment.

The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index as at 54.1 in August, up from 47.4 in July and higher than expected.

Meanwhile, property values in 20 US metropolitan areas were reported down 15.4 percent in June from last year at the same time after falling 17 percent in May from the previous May, less of a decline than had been expected.

At shortly after 11 a.m. in New York, the greenback traded at $1.4335 to the euro while the yen was at ¥94.405 to the dollar and traded at ¥135.3283 to the shared currency.

The dollar was also weaker in relation to the South African rand and the New Zealand dollar as the rand traded at R7.7844 to the US currency and the dollar was worth 68.64 cents US to its New Zealand counterpart.

The pound weakened versus the euro and the dollar on worries about economic recovery after the Chinese premier made comments implying that global recovery could be slower than hoped.

In late morning trade in New York, the pound traded at 87.53p to the euro while it took $1.6377 to buy a pound.

The Canadian dollar also lost ground to the greenback after oil prices declined, trading at C$1.078 to the US dollar at late morning in New York.

The US dollar was weaker Wednesday as US equities markets were up on higher oil prices and investors looked for riskier investments, but in afternoon trade the greenback looked like it was beginning to gain back some of its declines.

At 1:46 p.m. in New York, the US currency traded at $1.4245 to the euro while it took ¥93.905 to buy a dollar.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian krone traded at 6.0578 to the dollar on the gains in crude oil prices, which came after the news that crude inventories in the US took an unexpected plunge last week.

The yen was higher versus the euro after equities declines in China, with the Japanese currency trading at ¥133.7678 to the shared currency in afternoon trade in New York.

The pound was weaker versus the greenback and the euro after a release of the minutes of the most recent Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting showed that Bank Governor Mervyn King wanted more spending for asset purchases to help the UK economy than the £50 billion pounds in extra spending that was approved by the Committee.

According to the minutes, two other MPC members joined Mr. King in his vote for spending higher amounts.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the pound traded at 86.13p to the euro while it took $1.654 to buy a pound.

The US dollar and the yen strengthened Monday as investors avoided risk after Japan’s gross domestic product did not grow as much as had been hoped in the second quarter.

Japan’s GDP added an annualized 3.7 percent in the second quarter, not as much growth as predicted but still an improvement over its 11.7 percent decline in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the greenback was helped by news that the New York Federal Reserve’s general economic index was at 12.08 in August, up from minus 0.55 in July and its highest reading since November 2007.

Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region’s manufacturing activity.

Still, the dollar was hurt by another bank failure, this time in Alabama, after four other banks closed last week to bring the number of failed US banks so far this year to 77.

At around 10:30 a.m. in New York, the yen traded at ¥132.9887 to the euro and at ¥94.555 to the US dollar, while the dollar traded at $1.4065 to the euro.

The pound, meanwhile, was lower on a report from Rightmove Plc (LSE: RMV) showing that the average price of a house in the UK dropped 2.2 percent in August, an indication that the recession might not be over there yet.

Mid-morning trade in New York found the pound trading at 86.26p to the euro while it took $1.6305 to buy a pound and the yen traded at ¥154.1741 to the UK currency.

The Canadian dollar weakened on lower oil prices and declines in equities markets, but regained some strength on the news about manufacturing in the New York region to trade at C$1.1093 to the greenback at just past 10:30 a.m. in New York.

The euro was weaker versus the US dollar and the yen Friday on a report from the European office of statistics which showed that consumer prices in the European Union were down 0.7 percent from last year, while at the same time US consumer prices were unchanged in July from June but were down 2.1 percent from last year at the same time, according to the US Labor Department.

In late morning trade in New York, the dollar traded at $1.4243 to the euro while the yen was at ¥134.6888 to the shared currency.

The yen was slightly higher versus the greenback earlier, but by late morning it had dropped its gains and was trading at ¥94.565 to the dollar.

The South African rand, meanwhile, weakened in relation to the US dollar after the central bank in South Africa unexpectedly cut interest rates by 0.5 percent to 7 percent, the lowest the rate has been in over three years, on concerns that the economy there contracted for a third consecutive quarter in the quarter ending in June.

The rand traded at R8.0855 to the greenback at around 11:15 a.m. in New York.

The Canadian dollar also was down versus its US counterpart after earlier gains on a 1.9 percent gain in factory sales in June, against an expected decline.

The loonie was a C$1.0913 to the greenback after US equities markets declined.

The US dollar weakened a bit versus the euro on Wednesday ahead of announcement of a new decision on US interest rates by the Federal Reserve, due later in the day, in which the Fed is expected to hold rates steady for the time being.

In late morning trade in New York, the dollar traded at $1.4201 to the euro.

The pound was also down in relation to the euro, trading at 85.97p to the shared currency on a Bank of England forecast that inflation will remain below 2 percent and could go below 1 percent, and that economic recovery will continue to be slow.

Consumer inflation in the UK was at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in June, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian krone gained on the euro after Norges Bank held interest rates there unchanged at 1.25 percent but said that it could begin to raise rates sooner than had been expected.

Previously the bank said rates would not change before mid-2010.

At late morning in New York the krone traded at 8.6888 to the euro.

The yen was weaker versus the dollar and the euro as it traded at ¥96.2350 to the greenback and at ¥136.6586 to the shared currency.

The Japanese yen strengthened Tuesday as US equities markets declined and new data out of China showed fewer loans granted and less exports leaving China.

New figures revealed that China exports were down 23 percent in July from July of last year.

In mid-morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥135.6305 to the euro and at ¥95.945 to the US dollar, while it was at ¥158.2728 to the pound and was worth ¥64.0891 to the New Zealand dollar.

The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, dropped versus both the yen and the US dollar as investors looked for less risky deals ahead of Wednesday’s decision on US interest rates from the Federal Reserve, which is expected to hold rates steady again this month.

The loonie was worth ¥87.0249 and traded at C$1.0953 to the US currency, bringing its decline against the greenback to 2.7 percent in just over a week.

The euro’s declines came on lower consumer prices in Germany which made it look as if Eurozone interest rates will likely remain low for the time being.

The US dollar traded at $1.4136 to the shared currency at mid-morning in New York.