The yen maintained losses against most of its major counterparts as signs the global economic recovery is picking up supported stocks and commodities, damping demand for Japan’s currency as a refuge. The dollar snapped a two-day loss against the euro before data forecast to show initial jobless claims dropped and retail sales rose. The Australian dollar pared gains after China said today that inflation surpassed its target level for a fourth month, spurring expectations the nation will take more measures to cool growth. South Korea’s won surged after a report showed the nation’s unemployment rate fell to a three-month low. “The data are showing the global economy is looking very strong,” said Adam Carr, a senior economist in Sydney at ICAP Australia Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest interdealer broker. “Against this backdrop, safe-haven currencies such as the yen and the Swiss franc are likely to be sold.” The yen was at 116.44 per euro as of 6:40 a.m. in London from 116.54 in New York yesterday, when it fell 1 percent. The dollar was little changed at 80.91 yen after touching 81.09, the highest since May 4. The greenback was at $1.4392 per euro from $1.4409. It rose to $1.4255 per euro on May 9, the strongest since April 19. The Swiss franc was little changed at 87.98 centimes per dollar after falling 0.9 percent yesterday. Stocks, Commodities The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares rose 0.6 percent today. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of raw materials climbed 1.3 percent yesterday after losing 9 percent last week in the biggest drop since December 2008. Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined by 44,000 to 430,000 last week, and sales at retailers advanced 0.6 percent in April, according to Bloomberg News surveys of economists before data due tomorrow. Treasury 10-year yields rose six basis points to 3.21 percent yesterday. They were little changed today. “U.S. yields have rebounded in a risk-on mode, with stocks and commodities rising,” said Koji Fukaya, chief currency strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo. “The dollar is bound to climb against the yen.” The dollar is down 5.3 percent this year in a measure of the currencies of 10 developed nations, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. The yen has lost 5.1 percent, while the euro has gained 2.6 percent. China’s Inflation China’s consumer prices rose 5.3 percent in April from a year earlier after gaining 5.4 percent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said, showing that inflation had exceeded Premier Wen Jiabao’s 4 percent target each month this year. Separate reports showed China’s industrial production advanced 13.4 percent last month and retail sales grew 17.1 percent. “Today’s data suggests China’s authorities have more policy tightening to do and we think some of that will come through exchange-rate appreciation,” said Grant Turley, a senior currency strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney. “This isn’t going to weigh too heavily on Aussie and the currency tends to appreciate in line with the yuan as well.” The Australian dollar was at $1.0861 from $1.0837 after rising as much as 0.3 percent. It fetched 87.85 yen from 87.66, after reaching 88.01 earlier. China is the biggest buyer of Australia’s raw materials exports. The won surged 0.8 percent to 1,074.80 as South Korea’s jobless rate fell to 3.6 percent in April from 4 percent in March, Statistics Korea said today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 economists was for a rate of 3.8 percent. Taiwan’s Dollar Taiwan’s dollar touched a 13-year high on optimism China’s pledge to increase demand will benefit the island’s exports. The local dollar gained for a third day after global funds bought $173 million more local stocks than they sold yesterday, according to exchange data. China said yesterday it will seek to boost consumer spending and increase imports, according to a statement released following the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue with U.S. officials. “Asia will benefit if China imports more and the regional currencies will rise if the Chinese government accelerates appreciation,” said Tarsicio Tong, a Taipei-based currency trader at the Union Bank of Taiwan. Breaking through NT$28.50 is “a big psychological level,” he said. Taiwan’s currency advanced 0.7 percent to NT$28.523 against its U.S. counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It touched NT$28.495 earlier, the strongest level since October 1997. To contact the reporters on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net; Ron Harui in Singapore at rharui@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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