June 22, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1427

LONDON, June 21:The dollar dipped against the euro and the yen on Wednesday amid growing expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) may start raising interest rates soon, analysts said.

The euro climbed to $1.2618 in European trading from 1.2579 dollars late on Tuesday in New York.

The dollar fell to 114.75 yen from 114.93 yen on Tuesday.

The greenback has benefited in recent weeks from predictions that the US Federal Reserve will hike US rates by another quarter percent to 5.25 percent when it meets on July 29, amid growing concerns over inflation.

But in the absence of fresh US economic data, the foreign exchange market focussed on news out of Japan.

The dollar remains lower against the yen after comments from Bank of Japan Governor Fukui that policy needed to be adjusted without delay, said Derek Halpenny, senior currency economist at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

The euro was changing hands at $1.2618 against 1.2579 on Tuesday, 144.78 yen (144.58), 0.6845 pounds (0.6828) and 1.5606 Swiss francs (1.5584).

The dollar stood at 114.75 yen (114.93) and 1.2365 Swiss francs (1.2386).

The pound was being traded at $1.8437 (1.8418).

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold advanced to $577.25 per ounce, from $567 late on Tuesday.—AFP