February 25, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 23, 1423

LONDON, Feb 24: The yen climbed against other leading currenies on Monday after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi named moderate Toshihiko Fukui as the new Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor.

The dollar was little changed against the euro as worries over a possible war in Iraq weighed on the US unit.

The single European currency traded at $1.0764 from 1.0771 late on Friday in New York.

The dollar fell to 118.10 yen from 118.92 late on Friday after Koizumi nominated the 67-year-old former deputy governor, Fukui, as the new chief Japanese central banker.

Toshiro Muto, a former top bureaucrat at the finance ministry and university academic and bureaucrat Kazumasa Iwata were nominated as the central bank’s deputy governors, said the official.

The Japanese unit had slipped briefly in Asian trading on news of the nominations, but dealers in Europe later chased the yen higher.

The yen has rallied as market participants have concluded that the change in guard is unlikely to herald much change in policy, said Steve Pearson, chief strategist at HBOS Treasury services.

In recent weeks the yen had been held back by fears of a possible introduction of an inflation target and a surge in the money supply that such a policy would imply, explained Pearson.

Fukui is seen as well connected within the BoJ administration and rejects inflation targeting policy. BoJ policy is likely to remain conservative, suggesting the yen will rise, he said.

The dollar meanwhile held steady against the euro as investors mostly ignored comments from G7 finance ministers and central bank governors who met in Paris over the weekend.

Analysts said that this week’s slew of economic indicators from both sides of the Atlantic were likely to be overshadowed by geopolitical developments as the United States and Britain prepared to introduce a new Iraq resolution to the Security Council placing Iraq in material breach of resolution 1441.

The countdown to war continues and economic data will continue to take second place speculation seems to still centre on a war in mid/late March, said Bear Stearns economist Steve Barrow.

The euro was changing hands at $1.0764 from 1.0771 late on Friday in New York, 127.30 yen (127.77), 0.6807 pounds (0.6822) and 1.4682 Swiss francs (1.4695).

The dollar was being quoted at 118.10 yen (118.60) and 1.3648 Swiss francs (1.3640).

The pound was at $1.5801 (1.5795), 186.74 yen (187.21) and 2.1563 Swiss francs (2.1532).

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold edged down to $352.25 from $352.30 late on Friday. —AFP