Today, January 20, 2009 in early Tokyo trading, the U.S. Dollar gained versus a basket of currencies as the Pound Sterling extended losses to a 7-year low against the U.S. Dollar, following the announcement by the Royal Bank of Scotland of the largest loss in the U.K.’s corporate history and also investors’ renewed concerns about the global financial sector.
The Pound Sterling almost approached a 14-year low against the Japanese Yen following the effect of Britain's financial rescue plans quickly degenerated in the face of falling European shares.
Tokyo stocks fell 3% on renewed risk aversion, retreating from gains made since last week in advance of today's inauguration of the new U.S. President, Barack Obama, which prompted investors to move out of high risk currencies to the greenback and the Japanese Yen.
The dollar index, a measure of the U.S. Dollar’s performance against a group of six major currencies, rose by 0.3%. The Pound Sterling fell to $1.4247, its lowest level since March 2002. It, however, recovered slightly and traded at $1.4270. Meanwhile, the Pound Sterling tumbled by 1.6% to 128.90 Yen, and the Euro fell by 0.3% against the U.S. Dollar to $1.3036, while it fell by 0.7% against the Japanese Yen and traded at 117.63 Yen