December 4, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 18, 1422

TOKYO, Dec 3: The dollar was rangebound against major currencies in Tokyo on Monday after the release of weak economic indicators in the United States, brokers said.

The greenback changed hands at 123.62-64 yen against 123.20 yen in New York and 123.97-99 yen in Tokyo late Friday.

During Tokyo time, there hasn’t been whole a lot of active trading in the foreign exchange market, said Yoshitaka Noumi, dealer at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.

Since Friday, the dollar has come down from the 124-yen level to the range around 123.50 yen. Weak economic indicators in the United States are weighing on the dollar, Noumi said.

There will be more important indicators to be released in the United States this week. Investors are expecting to see more weak figures.

Last Friday, the US government published revised third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures showing a 1.1-per cent economic contraction in the three months to September, the biggest dive in a decade.

On top of the weak GDP data, the November Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slumped to 41.1 points from 46.2 in October much steeper than even the worst forecasts.

The weakness of the Chicago PMI survey raised concerns about the broader National Association of Purchasing Managers’ November survey to be released later Monday, dealers said.

The euro remained firm in Tokyo, buying $0.8951 against $0.8959 in New York and $0.8872-74 in Tokyo late Friday.

The euro’s strength was accelerated after Japan’s vice minister of finance for international affairs, Haruhiko Kuroda, said in a regular press conference Monday that he thought the euro had been undervalued, dealers said.

With the weakness of the dollar, coupled with the Kuroda comment, the euro is firming, said Kazuhiro Kaneko, dealer at Mizuho Trust Bank.

Kaneko added a rumour that Moody’s might downgrade Japanese government bonds was providing support for the US unit.

But the overall trend in the market was that the dollar was top-heavy against other currencies due to weak economic indicators in the United States, Kaneko said.

Meanwhile, DBS Bank said in a report that the European Central Bank (ECB) was not expected to loosen its monetary policy at a meeting Thursday even though European economies are slowing down sharply.

Recently, the ECB has tended to be more optimistic about the economy than the likes of IMF, OECD and even the European Commission, said Southeast Asia’s biggest lender.

That being the case, we continue to expect no change to interest rates until next year, it said.

Against the yen, the euro was quoted at 110.64, compared to 110.36 in New York and 110.07 in Tokyo Friday afternoon.

Data due from the world’s second largest economy, including GDP figures for the September quarter due out Friday, were unlikely to drive the market this week, said dealers.

Japan is in recession and at this moment there is not much expectation of recovery for the forseeable future. Even if the news is good, people won’t take it on face value, said Chase Manhattan Tokyo branch foreign exchange analyst Minori Takeuchi.—AFP