November 13, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 26, 1422

TOKYO, Nov 12: The dollar edged upward against major currencies on Monday in sluggish trading amid a dearth of fresh leads, dealers said.

The greenback was quoted at 120.57-59 yen against 120.33 yen in New York and 120.22-25 yen in Tokyo late Friday.

Trading was thin due to a lack of fresh leads and investors were also reluctant to trade as the US market is closed for a public holiday, Naoya Murata, dealer at Sanwa Bank.

The US financial markets are closed Monday for the Veteran’s Day Holiday.

While the dollar rose marginally against the yen, it was technical intra-bank buying, Murata said.

Investors virtually ignored an announcement by the Japanese government that the world’s number two economy contracted by a revised 0.7 per cent in the three months to June, marking its first economic decline in three quarters.

In September, the government gave its initial gross domestic product (GDP) estimate of a 0.8-per cent drop in April-June.

As for the revised GDP figure, there was no impact at all, said Yoshitaka Noumi, dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Investors have long known that the economy would post negative growth throughout the fiscal year, Noumi said.

Japan cut its official economic growth forecast Friday to negative 0.9 per cent for the year to March, abandoning an original estimated rise of 1.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the euro is expected to remain in its current range against the US dollar on weakness in the euro zone with US stocks expected to remain buoyant, DBS Bank said in Singapore.

Domestic releases will hold down the euro, especially after the ECB’s (European Central Bank) confession that it has underestimated the economic downturn, it said in a report.

So unless there is a sustained downward correction to US stocks, (the) euro is likely to be kept in its current range this week.

The euro bought $0.8935-37 compared with $0.8941 in New York and $0.8915-18 in Tokyo late Friday.

Against the yen, the euro was quoted at 107.82, against 107.22 in Tokyo Friday afternoon.

In late Singapore trade, the US dollar firmed to 52.0950 Philippine pesos from 51.870 the previous day, 10,685 Indonesian rupiah from 10,580, 34.4990 Taiwan dollars from 34.488 and 1,284.50 South Korean won from 1,283.20.

The greenback weakened to 44.3825 Thai baht from 44.51 and 1.8254 Singapore dollars from 1.8277.—AFP