Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : News Links and Chart Links -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pallmer who wrote (4114)	12/17/2002 10:09:20 AM
From: pallmer	Respond to of 29597

The US$ down, down Pallmer

To: pallmer who wrote (4114)	12/17/2002 10:38:35 AM
From: pallmer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29597

-- FOREX-Vulnerable dollar falls sharply on Iraq tensions -- (Recasts, updates prices, changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON) By Andrea Ricci NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The dollar slid to new three-year lows against the euro and fresh one-month lows versus the yen on Tuesday as worries about a war with Iraq beat on a vulnerable dollar. Jitters about a conflict with Iraq have been running at fever pitch since the United States and its chief ally Britain on Monday expressed dissatisfaction with Iraq's dossier on its weapons program prepared for the United Nations. "There is a lot of year-end pressure on the dollar, crystallized by the ratcheting of tension in Iraq and the fact that the arms inspections have not diminished the possibility in the short run for military action," said John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange at ING Barings Capital Markets in New York. The White House has said it would deliver its formal verdict on Iraq's weapons declaration this week. Britain said it probably would not make a public response before Christmas, though a U.K. defense source said Britain had stepped up plans for a possible war in Iraq. While most economists believe that a war with Iraq would have a negligible impact on U.S. growth prospects, risk-wary investors feel safer avoiding U.S. assets, especially given the possibility that a conflict with the Middle East nation could touch off attacks against U.S. interests. The euro soared more than 1 percent against the dollar on Tuesday to $1.0326 <EUR=>, a new three-year high. The Swiss franc also gained sharply, hitting its highest level against the dollar in four years at 1.4255 francs per dollar <CHF=>. The dollar was off three quarters of a percent against the yen at 120.36 yen <JPY=>, despite protestations from Japan that its currency had risen too far too fast. WAR JITTERS, YES, BUT THAT'S NOT ALL Concern about the possibility of impending war with Iraq by itself would have been enough to exert pressure on the dollar, but the greenback's problems have been compounded by uncertainty over White House dollar policy and the nation's precarious current account position. Indeed, the dollar's recent slide was precipitated by the forced resignation of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill at the start of December, and the subsequent uncertainty over whether the government might fine-tune its strong dollar policy under his proposed successor, John Snow. Meanwhile, the country's gaping current account gap means that the United States needs to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in capital every year simply to fund the deficit, a feat that has becoming increasingly difficult in a time of weak equity markets and that inevitably weighs on the dollar. "I think the flight to quality wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't taking place against the backdrop of the deficit," said Alan Ruskin, research director at 4Cast in New York. A heavy slate of U.S. data on Tuesday was shrugged off by currency markets. Consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in November, and 0.2 percent excluding food and energy, matching expectations. Housing starts, at an annualized 1.697 million in November, beat forecasts but were nevertheless in line with a real estate market that remained strong but not as robust as when mortgage rates were falling. Industrial production rose 0.1 percent in November, matching expectations, while October was revised modestly higher to a 0.6 percent decline from a 0.8 percent fall. JAPAN RAILS AGAINST 'STRANGE' YEN RISE With the dollar plumbing new lows against the yen, Japan on Tuesday turned up the rhetoric against an appreciating yen it fears will hurt its export-dependent economy. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said he must consider warning action against the yen's latest rise, which he described as "very bad" and "strange." With all the excitement on the dollar, the market barely responded to the Bank of Japan's decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged and instead step up its support for corporate financing by expanding the use of asset-backed commercial paper and loans on deeds as eligible collateral for its money market operations. "This is a fine-tuning of their policy, which will not have a big impact on the forex market," said Kazunari Kobayashi, treasurer at State Street in Tokyo. ((Reporting by Andrea Ricci; editing by James Dalgleish; Reuters Messaging: andrea.ricci.reuters.com@reuters.net; +646 223 6314)) ((Xtra clients: Click on topnews.session.rservices.com to see Top News pages in multimedia Web format. If you cannot access the pages, ask your IT department to check your Internet firewall settings. For a technical advisory, click on <C9991>.)) Currency bid prices at 1510GMT. All data taken from Reuters calculated from the levels at 5:30 p.m. (22:30 GMT) in the previous New York session. Last US Close % YTD 2001 16 Dec. Change %Change Close ------------------------------------------------------------- Euro/dlr <EUR=> 1.0324 1.0221 +1.01 +15.95 0.8904 Dlr/yen <JPY=> 120.39 121.33 -0.77 -8.54 131.63 Euro/yen <EURJPY=> 124.30 123.98 +0.26 +6.02 117.24 Dlr/swiss <CHF=> 1.4260 1.4428 -1.16 -14.07 1.6594 Stg/dlr <GBP=> 1.5994 1.5912 +0.52 +9.99 1.4541 Dlr/cad <CAD=> 1.5517 1.5614 -0.62 -2.51 1.5917 Aus/dlr <AUD=> 0.5684 0.5666 +0.32 +11.32 0.5106 Euro/swiss <EURCHF=> 1.4725 1.4744 -0.13 -0.37 1.4780 Euro/stg <EURGBP=> 0.6451 0.6420 +0.48 +5.36 0.6123 All spots <FX=> Tokyo spots <AFX=> Europe spots <EFX=> Volatilities <FXVOL> Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ <TKYFX> World central bank news [CEN] Economic Forecasts...[ECI/I] Official rates...[INT/RATE] Forex Diary.......[MI/DIARY] Top events........[M/DIARY] Diaries...........[DIARY] Diaries Index........[IND/DIARY] Press Digests....[PRESS] Polls on G7 economies..[SURVEY/] European markets......[MARKETS/] (C) Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. nN17366322 FRX/ USD/ 17-Dec-2002 15:36:12 GMT Source RTRS - Reuters News