To: John Pitera who wrote (4756 ) 10/2/2001 12:08:56 AM From: John Pitera Read Replies (1) | Respond to FXSummary: Not a bad day for the dollar, which pushed to three-week highs against the yen on the back of the weaker than expected quarterly tankan survey, as well as the lingering threat of BoJ intervention. While the pair ran into some resistance around its 50-day moving average, it did manage to hold just below its highs for the session. The dollar also found some semblance of reprieve from above-consensus September NAPM, which cast further doubt on the overwhelmingly economic negativity of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The euro showed a modest improvement against the dollar despite another flurry of M&A headwinds, equity weakness and of course, deteriorating manufacturing sentiment. For our part, we wonder if some of the euro's upside may have been fueled by another decline in oil. The Swiss franc followed the single currency higher, with a bit of a boost coming from concerns about a nearby US retaliation against the Taliban. Euro/yen was one of the better performers on the day, gaining over a full figure, while the Aussie managed to avoid the global gloom amid expectations of another RBA rate cut tomorrow. The Brazilian real weakened against the dollar for the first time in three sessions as risk aversion weighed on capital inflows. The Asian regionals remained hostage to a weaker yen, though trading was fairly quiet with Hong Kong and Seoul closed for holiday. Finally, sterling put in a favorable showing, boosted by another sharp surge in UK housing prices, a stronger than expected manufacturing survey, and speculation of M&A-related interest surrounding British Telecommunications' fixed-line telephone network.
