(COMTEX) B: Dollar eases to lower end of 121 yen in morning
TOKYO, Dec 16, 2002 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- The U.S. dollar eased to the lower
end of the 121 yen level in Tokyo on Tuesday morning in thin trading.
At midday, the dollar traded at 121.12-15 yen compared with Monday's 5 p.m.
quotes of 121.30-40 yen in New York and 120.58-61 yen in Tokyo.
The U.S. currency moved between 121.07 yen and 121.55 yen during the morning.
The market initially carried on the levels in late New York trading where the
dollar was lifted on the strong rally in U.S. stocks and comments by a Japanese
Finance Ministry official hinting at readiness to intervene in the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 193.69 points higher at 8,627.40,
recovering the 8,600 level for the first time in about a week.
Meanwhile, a news wire service reported that Vice Finance Minister Toshiro Muto
said a 5 yen rise within one week is a rapid move.
Later in Tokyo morning trading, the dollar came under downward pressure despite
comments by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa expressing displeasure with the
recent advance in the yen.
"It's a bit overdone," Shiokawa said at a news conference. "It is strange for
(the yen) to go up and down 5 to 6 yen in only a matter of a week or 10 days. We
must consider issuing a warning of some kind."
Immediately after the comments, the dollar briefly rose to the morning high of
121.55 yen but then dropped to a morning low of 121.07 yen.
"Instead of encouraging buying in the dollar, Shiokawa's comments apparently
tempted some players to try to move the dollar the opposite way," said Yasushi
Ishikawa, deputy foreign exchange manager at Credit Lyonnais in Tokyo.
He noted that worries about the tense international situation and the
possibility of terrorist attacks in the United States will continue to weigh on
the U.S. currency.
2002 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945
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KEYWORD: TOKYO
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