Dollar stable as traders digest G7 meeting
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
TOKYO, Feb 12 (AFP): The dollar was steady against the yen in Asian trade today after world finance chiefs refrained from taking any concrete measures to stabilise markets at a weekend meeting, dealers said.
They said the Tokyo market, which was closed yesterday for a national holiday, was still digesting the outcome of the G7 gathering, where ministers voiced concern about the increasingly uncertain global economic outlook.
The dollar was quoted at 106.90 yen in Tokyo. Yesterday's trade compared with 106.94 in New York late Monday.
The euro eased to 1.4502 dollars from 1.4517 and to 155.04 yen from 155.29.
Traders here showed some disappointment that the G7 had stopped short of announcing any specific measures to try to shore up their economies and markets, dealers said. The G7 also refrained from mentioning the weakness of the dollar.
The G7 statement "did not offer specific prescriptions to remedy market confusion due to the subprime mortgage problem," said Saburo Matsumoto, chief forex strategist for Sumitomo Trust Bank.
But dealers said the market impact was limited as most analysts had predicted ahead of the meeting that the G7 was unlikely to take coordinated action.
Analysts said that the market was now looking ahead to Wednesday's release of US January retail sales figures, which could be key to shaping market sentiment this week.
In the eurozone, traders will take a close look at the ZEW survey of German investor confidence, due out later Wednesday, amid growing concerns about the impact in the region of the US economic slowdown.
They said the Tokyo market, which was closed yesterday for a national holiday, was still digesting the outcome of the G7 gathering, where ministers voiced concern about the increasingly uncertain global economic outlook.
The dollar was quoted at 106.90 yen in Tokyo. Yesterday's trade compared with 106.94 in New York late Monday.
The euro eased to 1.4502 dollars from 1.4517 and to 155.04 yen from 155.29.
Traders here showed some disappointment that the G7 had stopped short of announcing any specific measures to try to shore up their economies and markets, dealers said. The G7 also refrained from mentioning the weakness of the dollar.
The G7 statement "did not offer specific prescriptions to remedy market confusion due to the subprime mortgage problem," said Saburo Matsumoto, chief forex strategist for Sumitomo Trust Bank.
But dealers said the market impact was limited as most analysts had predicted ahead of the meeting that the G7 was unlikely to take coordinated action.
Analysts said that the market was now looking ahead to Wednesday's release of US January retail sales figures, which could be key to shaping market sentiment this week.
In the eurozone, traders will take a close look at the ZEW survey of German investor confidence, due out later Wednesday, amid growing concerns about the impact in the region of the US economic slowdown.