Yen Rises as Central Banks Reduce Stimulus; U.S. Futures Drop

The yen rose and U.S. stock index futures declined on concern central banks around the world may be moving too fast to scale back measures designed to haul their economies out of the recession.

The yen advanced against all but one of the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg as of 10:16 a.m. in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.3 percent before a report that may show spending by U.S. consumers fell in September for the first time in five months.

The U.S. recession “might not even be over,” Paul McCulley, managing director of Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world’s biggest bond fund, wrote on the company’s Web site. “The time has come to begin paring exposure to risk assets, and if their prices continue to rise, paring at an accelerated pace.”

The Bank of Japan said today it will stop buying corporate debt at the end of the year and Germany’s Axel Weber indicated yesterday the European Central Bank may scale back its aid package. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet shrank 1.8 percent in the past week as companies reduced reliance on the central bank. The U.S. exited recession in the third quarter, official figures showed, fanning speculation policy makers will drop emergency measures taken at the height of the financial crisis.

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