By Lukanyo Mnyanda Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar and the yen declined as U.S. stock-index futures rose before a report that may show the world’s biggest economy exited the recession in the third quarter, stoking demand for higher-yielding currencies. The U.S. currency snapped four days of gains against the euro, and the yen retreated from a two-week high, as investors bet the U.S. economy probably expanded in the three months through September for the first time in more than a year. The pound rose for a fourth day against the dollar after U.K. mortgage approvals climbed to highest level in 18 months. Norway’s krone advanced against 14 of the 16 most active currencies after Norges Bank raised interest rates yesterday. The dollar “isn’t getting too much traction ahead of the GDP number, which is one of the bigger data points to determine whether the U.S. has moved from the recession,” said Jeremy Stretch, a senior currency strategist in London at Rabobank International. “Markets are tentatively trying to put a bit of risk back on the table.” The dollar was at $1.4752 per euro as of 6 a.m. in New York, from $1.4706 yesterday. The yen traded at 133.91 per euro, from 133.43 yesterday and 132.81 earlier, the strongest level since Oct. 14. The Japanese currency was at 90.77 per dollar, from 90.75. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.5 percent, indicating the benchmark share gauge will halt a four-day slide. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.2 percent after declining as much as 0.6 percent earlier today. GDP Report U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 3.2 percent annual pace, after shrinking in the previous four quarters, according to the median estimate of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Commerce Department’s report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The 3.8 percent slump in the 12 months to June was the worst performance in seven decades. The pound rose to $1.6426, from $1.6373 yesterday, after the Bank of England said lenders granted 56,215 home loans last month, compared with 52,970 in August. The median of 20 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was 53,600. The krone snapped four days of losses against the dollar to trade at 5.7046, from 5.7454 yesterday. It strengthened to 8.4145 per euro, from 8.4475. The Oslo-based Norges Bank raised the nation’s overnight deposit rate to 1.5 percent yesterday, becoming the first European central bank to reverse its easing cycle since the credit crisis began in 2007. Australia’s currency rose to 90.338 U.S. cents today, from 89.71 cents yesterday. It dropped to 89.44 cents earlier, the weakest level since Oct. 8. Aussie Rates Australia’s central bank was the first in the Group of 20 countries to increase borrowing costs since the global crisis began easing, raising its main rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent on Oct. 6. Higher rates boost the appeal of so-called carry trades, where investors borrow in low-yielding currencies such as the yen to invest elsewhere. The risk is that currency moves may erase gains. Benchmark rates are 0.1 percent in Japan and a range of between zero and 0.25 percent in the U.S. Australia’s currency rose to 90.338 U.S. cents today, from 89.71 cents yesterday. It dropped to 89.44 cents earlier, the weakest level since Oct. 8. The euro stayed higher against the yen and the dollar after reports showed German unemployment unexpectedly fell in October and a slump in machinery orders eased in September. The economy, the euro region’s biggest, returned to growth in the second quarter. The euro “remains in an uptrend,” Greg Gibbs, a foreign- exchange strategist in Sydney at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, wrote today in a report. It is “no longer a compelling sell, and medium-term considerations favor buying dips.”

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