September 05, 2007	Wednesday	Sha'aban 22, 1428

LONDON, Sept 4: The euro was steady against the dollar on Tuesday as traders geared up for an interest-rate decision from the European Central Bank and key US data later in the week.

The single European currency stood at $1.3610 in late European trade, from $1.3613 in London late on Monday.

The dollar dipped to 116.27 yen, from 115.83 yen late on Tuesday.

The dollar was steady after a key US manufacturing survey was broadly in line with expectations, suggesting that the US sub-prime crisis has not yet hit the wider economy.

The ISM manufacturing index fell to 52.9 in August from 53.8 in July. While it was just below analyst forecasts for a reading of 53.0, many investors had been bracing themselves for a very weak reading following a month of turmoil in financial markets.Meanwhile the euro and pound both steadied after falling earlier in the day.

Global markets have been shaken in recent weeks over problems with “sub-prime” or high-risk US homeowners defaulting on loans, sending banks and funds with such mortgage-backed securities scrambling to cover their losses.

The euro was changing hands at 1.3610 dollars, against 1.3613 dollars late on Monday, 158.24 yen (157.65), 0.6766 pounds (0.6747) and 1.6475 Swiss francs (1.6463).—AFP