The yen weakened below 92 against the dollar for the first time since 2010, dragging Asian currencies lower. The region’s stocks dropped before U.S. jobs data and after a Chinese manufacturing gauge declined. Treasuries fell. The yen retreated against every major peer apart from the won, which slumped 0.7 percent versus the greenback at 3:13 p.m. in Tokyo. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index dropped 0.3 percent to a two-month low. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) lost 0.3 percent as Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.4 percent. Ten-year U.S. government yields added two basis points to 2.01 percent. The weak yen will affect Korean exports, a government official said today. U.S. payrolls increased by 165,000 in January for a 28th straight month of growth, yet not enough to reduce the 7.8 percent unemployment rate, according to economists’ forecasts. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.4 last month as export orders contracted and production slowed, according to an official report today. “Major Asian economies are looking for ways, such as currency depreciation, to counter a sliding yen’s impact on competitiveness,� said Bruce Yam, a currency strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Yet, quantitative easing in major economies means investors will look to Asia for higher- yielding assets.� Japan’s currency slid 0.5 percent to 92.21 per dollar after data today showed an increase in the jobless rate and a decline in household spending, adding to impetus for further easing to bolster growth. The yen is heading for a 12th weekly decline, which would be the longest stretch of losses going back to 1971, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China Data The won is set for its biggest weekly loss since May on concern a weak yen will hurt the nation’s exports and after the government proposed a tax on securities trading to curb speculative flows. The Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most-active currencies excluding the yen, lost 0.3 percent this week. Australia’s dollar slid 0.3 percent after export orders contracted in China, its largest trading partner. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 50.4 in January, less than the 51 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts and 50.6 in December. A separate gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics rose to a two-year high of 52.3. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.3623, after touching $1.3633, the strongest since November 2011. Yesterday the currency completed the longest stretch of monthly advances against the dollar since May 2003. Euro PMI The final reading for a gauge of euro zone factory output by Markit Economics will probably be 47.5 in January, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Gauges of health-care and technology companies led declines on MSCI’s Asian index. The measure yesterday capped a third straight month of gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rallied 1.3 percent and the Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.4 percent today. About $2.6 trillion was added to the value of equities worldwide in the month as earnings from companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. beat estimates and U.S. lawmakers forged a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic spending cuts and tax increases. Including dividends, the S&P 500 rallied 5.2 percent last month for its best January return since 1997. The U.S. Labor Department said yesterday jobless claims grew by 38,000 to 368,000 last week, adding to concern about the economy a day after data showed gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank last quarter. To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net; Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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