RTRS: Dollar, euro drop against yen on economic worries
* Yen rises as data adds to growth worries
* U.S. consumer sentiment falls in November-survey
* U.S. trade gap widens 18.2 pct in September (Updates with U.S. consumer sentiment, adds comment, updates prices)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The dollar and euro dropped against the yen on Friday after data showing that U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November to the weakest in three months boosted safe-haven demand for the Japanese currency.
The unexpectedly weak consumer number, which followed a report earlier showing the U.S. trade deficit widened by much more than expected in September, stoked concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.
"These numbers have been a bit hit-and-miss over the last couple of months. We've had a couple of down months now, but that's not too surprising given the headlines on employment and the gloom surrounding them," said Shawn Osborne, senior currency strategist at TD Securities in Toronto.
"The general trend right now is a bit more risk averse," he added.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of sentiment for November fell to 66.0, the lowest since August, from 70.6 in October. This was well below economists' median expectation of a reading of 71.0. For more see [ID:nN13145905].
In mid-morning trading, the dollar fell 0.8 percent to 89.66 yen JPY=, after hitting a session low of 89.48, according to Reuters data. The euro was down 0.7 percent at 133.16 yen EURJPY=R.
Against the dollar, the euro was little changed at $1.4846 EUR=.
Earlier, a report showed the U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the most in more than 10 years, as oil prices rose for the seventh straight month and imports from China bounded higher, government data showed on Friday. [ID:nN12319602] (Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by James Dalgleish)
