December 29, 2001	Saturday	Shawwal 13, 1422

TOKYO, Dec 28: The yen moved in a narrow range against the dollar in Tokyo on Saturday due to a sharp decline in liquidity on the last trading day here for the year, dealers said.

The yen traded at 131.45-48 to the dollar against 131.64-68 yen in New York and 131.67-70 in Tokyo late Thursday.

The release of Japanese data showing a record high jobless rate of 5.5 per cent in November had little impact on the yen, given local media had already reported the figure on Thursday, dealers said.

The market also hardly reacted to a report that second-tier regional bank Ishikawa Bank Ltd. would file for bankruptcy as trade wound down for the year. The Tokyo market will be closed for the first four days of next week.

Toyo Trust and Banking dealer Issaku Taguchi said the yen got some support from remarks by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi late Thursday showing his readiness to consider injecting more public funds into ailing banks if necessary.

Koizumi brushed off speculation that an economic crisis would occur in February or March, according to ruling Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general Taku Yamasaki, who met with him at his official residence.

I will take emergency measures when necessary, Koizumi was quoted as saying at the meeting. Yamasaki added such measures would include the fresh injection of public money into banks.

Toyo’s Taguchi, however, said the yen was expected to remain exposed to downside risks because Japanese authorities appeared ready to let the currency slide in an effort to achieve an export-led economic recovery. Haruhiko Kuroda, vice finance minister for international affairs, reportedly said the current dollar-yen exchange rate was within an acceptable range and would not trigger any crisis for Asian nations.

His comments came after South Korea and China expressed concern over the possible impact a weaker yen would have on their own export performance.

The euro bought $0.8814-17 against $0.8828-32 in New York and 0.8811 in Tokyo late Thursday.

Against the yen, the euro was quoted at 115.99, compared with 116.25 in New York and 116.08 in Tokyo Thursday afternoon.

The euro was rangebound in cautious trading ahead of the introduction of the euro notes and coins on January 1, dealers said.

The euro is most likely to continue to outperform the yen, given rising demand for European (assets), including the pound, from Japanese institutional investors, Taguchi said.

Singapore dealers said the euro traded in a narrow range as the market focused its attention on the volatile yen.

Trading in the euro was very quiet and very tight, said a dealer with BNP Paribas.

It’s the end of the month and the end of the year. So there is no big news and no big changes.

In late Singapore trade the dollar was at 10,425 Indonesian rupiah, up from 10,355 on Thursday, 51.65 Philippine pesos from 51.50, and 1.8517 Singapore dollars from 1.8508

The greenback was lower at 1,322.8 South Korean won from 1,329.1, 35.066 Taiwan dollars from 35.127 and 44.19 Thai baht from 44.22.—AFP