UPDATES ON NOV 4 2008

NOV 4 TUESDAY

Yen Rises on Speculation Global Rate Cuts May

Curb Carry Trades .

The yen rose against higher-yielding currencies on speculation

a series of global interest-rate cuts will make it less attractive

to buy overseas assets using funds from Japan.

The currency gained against the Australian dollar after the

Reserve Bank of Australia lowered borrowing costs by three

- quarters of a percentage point to 5.25 percent today. It also

advanced versus the euro and the British pound, before

expected rate reductions by the European Central Bank

and the Bank of England this week.

The euro fell for a fourth day against the dollar on speculation

the European Central Bank will lower rates to cushion the

impact of a slowing economy. The ECB will trim its benchmark

rate by half a percentage point to 3.25 percent when it

announces a policy decision on Nov. 6, according to a

Bloomberg survey.

The Bank of England will lower its key interest rate to 4 percen

t from 4.5 percent at a meeting ending Nov. 6, according to

economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Federal Reserve

reduced its target lending rate by a half-percentage point to

1 percent on Oct. 29. Central banks in China, Taiwan, Hong

Kong, India and the Middle East also cut borrowing costs in

the past week as policy makers race to avert a global recession.

The U.S. economy, the world's biggest, shrank at a 0.3 percent

annual pace in the third quarter and an industry report yesterday

showed manufacturing contracted in October at the fastest rate

in 26 years. In Japan, the world's second-largest economy, the

Nikkei 225 Stock Average last month reached its lowest level

since 1982.