December 27, 2007	Thursday	Zilhaj 16, 1428

NEW YORK, Dec 26: The US dollar slid against a basket of major currencies in thin trade on Wednesday while the yen traded near seven-week lows as investors continued to fund carry trades by borrowing the Japanese currency.

On Wall Street, the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 dipped, while the Nasdaq inched up, in light volume on the day after the Christmas holiday.

Investors are concerned about how US retailers fared during the holiday shopping season. Most European markets remain closed for Christmas.

“We are seeing the dollar head a little lower today, but given volumes are extremely light, we can’t really see its drop as a major trend,” said Andrew Busch, a global foreign-exchange strategist with The Bank of Montreal in Chicago.

“I’m recommending my clients to step outside forex markets until the end of the year.” Early afternoon in New York, the euro was up 0.7 per cent at $1.4502, near its session high. Earlier in the day, the euro advanced above $1.45 for the first time in nearly two weeks.

The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against six currencies, was down 0.6 per cent at 77.144.

Currency traders shrugged off data showing United States home prices in October posted their biggest annual drop in the history of the S&P/Case-Shiller index.

While the data was two months old, it did stir some concern among investors who expect the dollar to resume a broad slide in 2008 as credit worries resurface and signs of a United States economic slowdown increase.

Investors may now focus on other economic data still set for release this week. A report on durable goods orders for November is due on Thursday, and a reading on new US home sales for November will be released on Friday.—Reuters