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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jackhach who wrote (499752)	11/28/2003 1:53:12 PM
From: jackhach	Respond to of 769670

Euro Hits a New High Against the U.S. Dollar DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -- The dollar opened U.S. trading Friday with a thumping Thanksgiving hangover, having plunged to new record lows against the euro in London hours on the back of aggressive speculator-driven selling amid thin liquidity. The euro traded as high as $1.2015 -- above $1.20 for the first time ever. As part of a deeper dollar selloff, the greenback hit new multiyear lows against sterling and the Canadian dollar, as well as a six-month low against the Swiss franc. Early Friday afternoon in New York, the euro was trading at $1.1990, up from $1.1906 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was at 1.2905 Swiss francs, down from 1.3004 francs, while sterling was trading at $1.7214, up from $1.7131. The dollar was steadier against the yen at ¥109.54, versus ¥109.19 late Thursday. The few remaining dollar bulls out there hoping for a rebound look set to be disappointed. "We should carry on with the euro [moving] gently higher" Friday, said Neil Jones, director of foreign-exchange sales at Nomura in London. "We're not at the end of dollar depreciation against the major currencies." Positioning wasn't thought to be at extreme levels just yet, Mr. Jones added. Analysts at ABN Amro agreed, pointing out in a research note Friday that the speculative trading community has "significant capacity to take euro/dollar higher on a break of $1.2000." They said the euro, in uncharted waters, should now target $1.2200. Before that, however, dealers said $1.2050 and stop-loss buy orders placed above there will be the next target. The 12-nation currency, which was launched in 1999, has hovered around all-time highs the U.S. currency since it set a record of $1.1979 on Nov. 19. There appears to be no single catalyst behind the dollar's latest plunge. But as in recent sessions, a few small factors conspired to sour sentiment toward the currency, which hasn't been this bearish for several years. The close of U.S. financial markets for Thanksgiving slowed global currency trading to a near-standstill since late Wednesday, with the U.S. dollar easing against most of its major rivals in thin trading. In thin liquidity, options barriers were removed and traders were waiting to see how the U.S. session unfolded. "The background today is simply that the volumes being traded are relatively small," said Michael Schubert, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. He said the rise was driven by speculation that the euro could be driven up to new highs. "In principle, the tendency is still upward," he said. But he forecast that the euro is unlikely to go far above $1.21 or $1.22. A report in USA Today on threats of another al Qaeda "spectacular" attack and a report in Britain's Independent newspaper that investors George Soros and Warren Buffett were bearish on the dollar gave added impetus to a market clearly in the mood to drive the currency lower. The euro's rise, which has taken the currency 13% higher against the dollar this year, raised fears it might undermine the continent's nascent economic recovery by making European goods more expensive compared to foreign competition. Write to Dow Jones Newswires editors at spotnews@priority.dowjones.com Updated November 28, 2003 1:35 p.m.