UPDATES ON SEPT 24 2008

SEPT 24 WEDNESDAY

Yen Falls as U.S. Stock Futures Rise on Goldman Fundraising .

The yen declined after the Federal Reserve announced it

extended currency swap agreements and as Goldman Sachs

Group Inc. said it will raise funds, giving investors confidence

to buy higher-yielding assets.

The yen dropped the most this week against the dollar and euro

as U.S. stock futures rose and Asian shares pared losses. Goldman

Sachs secured a $5 billion stock investment from Warren Buffett's

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The Fed arranged $30 billion in swaps

with central banks in Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden

to ease short-term dollar funding. The Australian and

New Zealand currencies weakened as prices for

commodities declined.

In so-called carry trades, investors get funds in a country with low

borrowing costs and invest in another with higher interest rates,

earning the spread between the two. The risk is that currency

market moves can erase those profits.

The Bank of Japan's benchmark rate of 0.5 percent compares

with 4.25 percent in Europe and 2 percent in the U.S.