Yen and U.S. dollar showed some gains on forex accounts as traders turned back from demanding higher-yielding currencies. Reports showed U.S. service industries contracted at a faster rate and eliminated more jobs than economists had forecasted.

Dollar and yen rose against Australian dollar and South African rand, as concerns on recession renewed demand for safe currencies.

Wall Street also slid after U.S. data reported employers just keep cutting jobs.

A report from Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisors found that employers cut 371,000 private-sector jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a revised decline of 463,000 jobs in June. Although it was the smallest number of monthly job losses since October, more jobs are likely to disappear as businesses focus on cutting costs instead of expanding. Economists were expecting different numbers.

They yen depreciated to 136.74 against the euro at 12:15 in New York, from 137.21 on previous session. The greenback was trading at $1.4391 per euro, as yen advanced versus the dollar at 94.99.

The Standard & poor´s 500 Index dropped 0.9, pushing the gauge of tocks above 1,000 for the first time since November.