Yen rises to five-week high, dollar gains on demand for haven

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- The yen climbed to a five-week high against the euro while the dollar rose against an index of the currencies of six U.S. trading partners as the deepening global recession increased the haven appeal of the currencies.
Japan’s yen rose for a fifth week versus the dollar, its longest rally since December 2004, as the U.S. payrolls report showed the biggest job losses in 34 years. The pound touched a 6 1/2-year low after the Bank of England reduced its main interest rate to the lowest level since 1951. “Risk aversion will give bids to the dollar and the yen,” said Win Thin, a senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “People just don’t know how bad the recession is.”