October 9, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 2, 1423

LONDON, Oct 8: The dollar rose against other leading currencies on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations of a firmer opening on Wall Street where stocks were expected to claw back recent losses when trading resumed later.

The single European currency slipped back to $0.9802 from 0.9832 late on Monday in New York.

The dollar rose to 124.27 yen from 124.21 on Monday.

The euro was a little bit heavy coming into the European session and S and P 500 (stock index) futures are up about 10 points which seems to be helping the dollar a bit, said Commerzbank currency strategsit Kamal Sharma.

Analysts said the euro had shown little reaction to comments from European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg, who was widely interpreted to have indicated that lower interest rates could be on the cards.

Data released earlier in Germany showed that the number of people looking for work last month fell back below the politically sensitive level of four million, but primarily as a result of seasonal factors.

The country’s Federal Labour Office calculated that a total 3.942 million people were claiming benefit in September, down from 4.018 million in August.

Sharma said that although the figures were better than expected they had failed to spark the currency market into life.

News that euro-zone finance ministers had failed late Monday to reach agreement on a new timetable for bringing their budget deficits under control, largely owing to French opposition, was said by some analysts to have weighed on the euro.

ABN Amro currency strategist Rob Hayward said the whole idea of budget constraints to support the euro appeared to be failing. Meanwhile the yen was undermined by the earlier release of yet more worrying Japanese economic data.

Private-sector machinery orders fell 13.6 per cent in August from the previous month — sharpest decline since March 1987 — which compared with expectations for a more modest 0.6 per cent fall.

The euro was changing hands at $0.9802 against 0.9832 late on Monday in New York, 121.81 yen from 122.14, 0.6264 pounds (0.6274) and 1.4646 Swiss francs (1.4628).

The dollar was being quoted at 124.27 yen (124.21) and 1.4938 Swiss francs (1.4877).

The pound was at $1.5647 (1.5663), 194.41 yen (194.69) and 2.3377 Swiss francs (2.3308).

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold fell to 321.05 dollars from 321.75 late on Monday. —AFP