Dollar mixed in Asian trade
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
TOKYO, Nov 6 (AFP): The dollar was mixed in Asia today as traders waited nervously to see if further bad news would emerge on the US subprime loan crisis, dealers said.
The euro edged up to 1.4492 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4464 in New York late Monday, close to last week's record high of 1.4528.
The dollar was slightly higher at 114.69 yen after 114.49 while the euro edged up to to 166.22 yen from 165.60.
Investors fear that major banks may reveal further losses on securities backed by subprime loans to homebuyers with patchy credit histories.
"Investors are afraid and are waiting to see what happens regarding the troubles in the US financial sector. The market is not in the mood for active trading," said Yoshifumi Suzuki, forex dealer at Hachijuni Bank.
The head of banking giant Citigroup stepped down over the weekend as the group said it expected to write off up to 11 billion dollars related to problems in the subprime mortgage sector.
Credit worries overshadowed the ISM survey of the services sector for October, which came in at 55.8 points against 54.8 in September and analyst forecasts of 54.
Markets were set to pay close attention to remarks from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to Congress Thursday after fresh worries about the impact of the US mortgage and credit woes rattled stock markets last week.
The Fed last week cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.5 per cent to try to cushion the economy from a housing slump, following a hefty 50-basis-point reduction in September.
The euro edged up to 1.4492 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4464 in New York late Monday, close to last week's record high of 1.4528.
The dollar was slightly higher at 114.69 yen after 114.49 while the euro edged up to to 166.22 yen from 165.60.
Investors fear that major banks may reveal further losses on securities backed by subprime loans to homebuyers with patchy credit histories.
"Investors are afraid and are waiting to see what happens regarding the troubles in the US financial sector. The market is not in the mood for active trading," said Yoshifumi Suzuki, forex dealer at Hachijuni Bank.
The head of banking giant Citigroup stepped down over the weekend as the group said it expected to write off up to 11 billion dollars related to problems in the subprime mortgage sector.
Credit worries overshadowed the ISM survey of the services sector for October, which came in at 55.8 points against 54.8 in September and analyst forecasts of 54.
Markets were set to pay close attention to remarks from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to Congress Thursday after fresh worries about the impact of the US mortgage and credit woes rattled stock markets last week.
The Fed last week cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.5 per cent to try to cushion the economy from a housing slump, following a hefty 50-basis-point reduction in September.