August 26, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 1, 1427

LONDON, Aug 25: The dollar held stable against the euro on Friday after a speech by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke failed to provide any clues about the future direction of US interest rates.

The yen fell against both currencies and the euro approached the symbolic level of 150 yen, which it has never breached.

Analysts said the Japanese unit was under pressure after domestic consumer inflation data came in softer than expected.

The euro firmed slightly in late European trading to $1.2765 from $1.2758 late in New York on Thursday and to 149.74 yen from 148.68 late on Thursday.

The dollar jumped to 117.31 yen, from 116.55 yen on Thursday.

Trading on Friday was cautious ahead of expected comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who spoke on the subject of global economic integration at the Fed's Kansas City Economic Symposium in the US state Wyoming.

Bernanke said that international terrorism was a threat to globalisation and could hamper further integration of the world economy, but made no reference to monetary policy.

Traders are keen for signals on the likelihood of further interest rate rises by the US central bank, which earlier this month paused in its tightening campaign after 17 straight interest rate rises.

“The Fed’s rate policy once again returns to the centre of the markets’ attention,” said Commerzbank currency analyst Gavin Friend on Friday, before the speech by Bernanke.

The greenback has proven resilient in recent days in the face of concerns about slowing US economic growth, supported by capital inflows as risk averse investors pull funds out of emerging markets, dealers said.

Elsewhere, it was revealed on Friday that Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.2 per cent in July from a year ago, as deflationary pressure continued to ease, although the gain was smaller than the 0.5 per cent rise expected by the market.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold eased to $621.75 per ounce, from $623.75 late on Thursday.—AFP