Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

Swiss Franc banknotes sit in the office of a bank in this arranged photograph in Zurich, Switzerland, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015.

The safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc traded near multi-month highs against the dollar on Friday after an unexpected slump in U.S. manufacturing fuelled fears of a downturn, sending stocks and bond yields tumbling.

Sterling languished at a one-month low after plunging almost 1% overnight as the Bank of England kicked off its interest-rate cutting cycle in a finely balanced decision. The euro also sagged near a one-month trough following dovish comments from the European Central Bank.

The yen traded around 0.2% stronger at 149.085 per dollar, after popping as high as 148.51 overnight for the first time since mid-March. The franc edged to its highest since early February at 0.8726 per dollar.

They were the only two major currencies to outperform the dollar overnight, which itself draws safe-haven flows, paradoxically even when the United States is the cause for concern.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar declined 0.14% to $0.6493 on Friday, extending the previous session's 0.52% slide.

• Read More