Risk Aversion Props USD, JPY

The safe haven currencies continue to benefit from further declines in the US stock market, with the dollar and the yen edging higher across the board. The equity market will likely continue to dictate direction as traders closely scrutinize corporate earnings reports in the coming weeks to gauge the impact of the recession on US corporations. The major equity bourses further relinquished recent gains, as the Dow Jones and Nasdaq were both lower by over 2% while the S&P 500 slumped by 1.9% in the afternoon session.