NEW YORK: The safe-haven yen and dollar rose on Friday after President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19, rattling investors just a month before November's US presidential election. Data showing US nonfarm payrolls rising less than expected in September, but with a drop in the unemployment rate, had little impact on currencies as markets were more focused on Trump's health.
The yen made its sharpest gain in more than a month to reach a one-week high of 104.95 and was last up 0.3% on the day at 105.27 yen to the dollar. Implied volatility gauges for the yen rose to a four-week high of 7.6 vols over the next month, signaling more choppy trading ahead.
Currencies seen as riskier bets fell across the board, with a fall in oil prices also pressuring the commodities-exposed Russian rouble, South African rand and Australian dollar. In midmorning trading, the dollar rose 0.1% against a basket of six major currencies to 93.815, but remains down 0.8% for the week - its biggest weekly drop since late August. The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1716.
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