The dollar has been hammered Thursday ahead of this weekend's meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Washington. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has made matters worse for the U.S. currency by making it clear that Beijing has no intention of allowing the yuan to appreciate faster. Wen argued that a stronger yuan would reduce the already narrow margins of many Chinese exporters. The job losses among migrant workers would then risk 'social and economic turbulence' that he said would be a disaster for the world. His comments came as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on emerging nations as well as China to show more flexibility in their exchange rates. See the dollar's fall against the yen: www.dowjoneswebservices.com/chart/view/4696 See the euro's rise against the dollar: www.dowjoneswebservices.com/chart/view/4695 The dollar was already under pressure from rising speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will increase quantitative easing next month. On Wednesday, the latest set of ADP employment numbers showed a 39,000 fall rather than an anticipated 20,000 rise, raising fears that the employment report for September will also prove disappointing. The Australian dollar was one of the main beneficiaries of the dollar's weakness, rising to its highest level--$0.9920--since the currency was first floated in 1983. The Aussie was helped by strong employment numbers showing a rise of 49,500 jobs last month. The euro also benefited as investors continued to bet that the European Central Bank will retain its recent hawkish stance after its policy meeting Thursday. Unlike most other major central banks, the ECB has suggested that it is keen to start exiting its ultra-easy monetary stance despite continued concerns about euro-zone growth and the health of European banks. The yen also resumed its recent rally as the dollar declined, helped by investors assuming that the Ministry of Finance won't intervene through the Bank of Japan to stop the yen's rise ahead of the meeting of G7 finance ministers attending the International Monetary Fund conference in Washington. The dollar fell well below the level at which the Japanese central bank intervened last month, with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan repeating that the government will take decisive steps to stop volatile moves. The pound also managed to post some gains against the dollar, even though a new survey from Halifax showed house prices falling by 3.6% last month, the largest ever monthly fall since records were started in 1983. This comes ahead of a Bank of England policy announcement Thursday. The bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged but there is a chance it will decide to extend quantitative easing given the rapid pace of the recent economic slowdown. Reports suggest that the U.K.'s coalition government plans to reschedule its fiscal cuts at a more even pace over the next five years. Some analysts suggest that this is the result of the sharp slowdown. 'Postponing fiscal cuts like welfare benefits could fuel concerns that the downside risks to the official near- and medium-term growth projections have grown of late. This in turn should be less supportive for sterling,' said Valentin Marinov, a currency strategist with Citigroup. By midmorning, the euro was up at $1.3974 from $1.3929 late Wednesday in New York, according to EBS. But the single currency has continued to trade shy of the emotive $1.40 level. The dollar is down at Y82.50 from Y82.96 while the pound has risen to $1.5936 from $1.5885. The U.S. currency is also down at CHF0.9580 from CHF0.9610 after hitting a new record low of CHF0.9555 while the euro has fallen to Y115.33 from Y115.55.