Yen Advances as Slower U.S. Growth

The yen rose against most of its major counterparts after the U.S. economy grew less than forecast and Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating, adding to concern Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

The yen also gained amid concern new Bank of Japan stimulus won’t be enough to boost the nation’s growth. Higher-yielding currencies including New Zealand’s dollar and Mexico’s peso climbed versus the U.S. dollar after slower growth in first- quarter gross domestic product revived bets the Federal Reserve won’t be quick to abandon efforts to support the economy.

The BOJ decision “was fairly disappointing, so the temptation to sell the yen was weakened,” said Sebastien Galy, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Societe Generale SA in New York. “Slightly disappointing data in the U.S., as long as it’s not too disappointing, is risk-supportive because you have hope for quantitative easing.”

The yen strengthened 0.7 percent to 80.45 per dollar at 12:39 p.m. in New York, extending its weekly rally to 1.3 percent. It reached 80.42, the strongest level since April 17. The Japanese currency advanced 0.4 percent to 106.60 per euro and touched 106.16, the strongest since April 18. The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.3250, gaining 0.2 percent this week.