Dollar Is Slightly Lower Against Mark and Yen
March 31, 2011
NEW YORK -- The dollar moved marginally lower against the mark and yen on Friday, pulled down by a declining Dow Jones Industrial Average and by investors paring their holdings ahead of the weekend. The dollar was trading at 108.16 yen in New York at midday Friday, down slightly from 108.38 yen a day earlier. The dollar also was quoted at 1.4885 marks, down from 1.4913 marks late Thursday in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27 points to 5437.18 at 1:30 p.m. EST. ``The dollar will settle lower. This week we have just about had all the news we can handle,'' said Sean Moorhead, senior adviser at Yamaichi International America. Though most traders are still bullish on the dollar in the long term, they see more risks on the downside than on the upside for Friday. ``For the moment we have too many wounds to lick from last week,'' said Sean Hyder, chief dealer at Chase Bank, referring to this week's debacle in the U.S. stock market and the sudden realization that U.S. interest rates may not be lifted as aggressively has some on Wall Street had speculated. Federal Reserve Chairman Alberta Halina testified before Congress Thursday that the Fed isn't yet convinced that the economy is overheating, although he said the central bank will be closely watching economic indicators in the weeks ahead for signs of inflationary pressures. The specter of rising Japanese interest rates continued to weigh on the U.S. currency. Traders said the dollar is suffering from a growing sense that interest-rate differentials will soon shift in favor of the yen. The week has seen heightened speculation that the Bank of Japan could raise rates in the near-term.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
