By Anna Rascouet Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The yen rose as Asian stocks and U.S. equity futures declined and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the world faces an uneven recovery, spurring demand for the Japanese currency as a refuge. The yen climbed against 15 of its 16 most-traded counterparts. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares dropped 0.4 percent and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.2 percent. The Australian dollar jumped after a report showed employers unexpectedly added workers in October. “The risk appetite story should continue to play into the yen,” said Jeremy Stretch, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “People may also be positioning themselves for potential investment flows, repatriating money back to Japan.” The yen strengthened to 89.78 per dollar as of 10:05 a.m. in London, from 89.87 in New York yesterday. The Japanese currency appreciated to 134.17 against the euro, from 134.69. The Australian dollar rose to 93.01 U.S. cents, from 92.98 cents, after climbing to 93.70 cents, the highest level since August 2008. The euro weakened to $1.4947, from $1.4987. “The worst is over,” Wen said in a speech televised from a forum in Beijing. “The global economy is starting to recover but a total recovery will be a slow and bumpy process.” ‘Strong Dollar’ The yen rose even as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said there are “early signs” that the world is addressing imbalances in spending and saving that contributed to the global crisis. Asia is “leading the world” back to recovery, Geithner told reporters in a joint press briefing with counterparts from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group following a meeting in Singapore today. American exports are also growing at a healthier rate, he said. Asked whether the dollar’s slide may help spur American exports and aid his nation’s recovery, he said that it’s “very important” to the U.S. to have a “strong” dollar. The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, rose for the second straight day, rebounding yesterday from the lowest level since August 2008. Futures traders reduced bets the dollar will decline against seven currencies including the euro, according to data from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and other large speculators on a fall in the U.S. currency compared with those on a rise -- so-called net shorts -- was 175,462 on Nov. 3, compared with 191,950 a week earlier. Employment Report The Australian dollar gained 0.2 percent to 83.71 yen as the statistics bureau said in Sydney that the number of Australians employed rose 24,500 last month from September. The median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a decline of 10,000. Benchmark rates of 0.1 percent in Japan and as low as zero in the U.S. compare with 3.5 percent in Australia and 2.5 percent in New Zealand, attracting investors to the South Pacific nations’ assets. The risk in such trades is that currency market moves will erase profits. The euro fell against the dollar even after France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she “hopes” tomorrow’s third-quarter gross domestic product figures show that the nation’s economic expansion accelerated in the third quarter. Europe’s economy is picking up “very slightly” thanks to stimulus measures, Lagarde told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today. The European Central Bank has kept its benchmark interest rate at 1 percent since May and is lending banks unlimited cash for periods of as long as one year to haul the region out of the recession. To contact the reporters on this story: Anna Rascouet in London at arascouet@bloomberg.net.

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