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 : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sciAticA errAticA who wrote (32788)	5/1/2003 9:08:02 AM
From: sciAticA errAticA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Euro at Four - Year Dollar High By REUTERS Filed at 2:43 a.m. ET SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The euro hit a fresh four-year high against the dollar on Thursday as doubts lingered over the U.S. economic outlook, while oil prices rose after OPEC said it might intervene to stop a steep slide. Shares gained in Japan and held steady in Australia as most Asian markets stayed shut for the Labor Day holiday. Gold climbed to a six-week high on the weaker dollar. Currency dealers said the murky U.S. economic outlook was prompting investors to diversify their assets and seek higher yields, such as euro deposits. That drove the euro to a four-year high of $1.1198, dealers said. Global investors were hesitant about putting funds into U.S. markets because of mixed economic indicators and the possibility of further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. ``Even after the end of the war in Iraq, I don't think global investors will bring back funds into dollar assets,'' said Kosuke Hanao, head of forex sales at Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo. ``They'd rather disperse their assets from the dollar to other currencies for risk hedging, and this is supporting the euro.'' The euro was also holding near a four-year high against the yen, around 132.97 yen compared with a peak on Wednesday at 133.35. The dollar was quoted at 118.76 yen, after falling on Wednesday to a near one-month low of 118.60. Oil prices firmed 1.5 percent, bringing gains in the last two sessions to almost $1 a barrel, after OPEC said it might intervene to stop a steep slide and data showed a surprisingly small rise in U.S. fuel stocks. U.S. light crude climbed 38 cents to $26.18 a barrel. SIX-DAY FALL SNAPPED The data from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the OPEC warning reversed a six-day price fall that had sent oil more than 10 percent lower. ``The EIAs weren't as bearish for prices as the market expected and that's triggered a pop higher following on from yesterday's gains when OPEC said it might re-evaluate its quotas,'' said a broker based in New York. OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Wednesday that OPEC ministers were in contact over a slide in prices since last week, when the cartel agreed a smaller-than-expected cut to the surplus output it was pumping during the war on Iraq. Japan's key Nikkei average rose 0.4 percent to 7,863.29. The gain was led by banks as investors anticipated the authorities would act on the market's slump to 20-year lows. Analysts said recent media reports of emergency economic proposals by Japan's ruling parties boosted hopes for steps to prevent further drops in shares. The reports helped the Tokyo market weather a dip on Wall Street and weak U.S. manufacturing data. Share benchmarks fell 0.1 percent in Australia and 0.7 percent in New Zealand, but had risen a third of a percent in Indonesia by early afternoon. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond briefly fell to a record low of 0.595 percent as pessimism over the economy continued to dominate the market. Gold gained $1 to $339.90 an ounce, a six-week high, after surging $5 on Wednesday as the weaker U.S. dollar made the metal cheaper for holders of other currencies. nytimes.com