February 20, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 12, 1429

LONDON, Feb 19: The dollar was on the back foot against the euro on Tuesday as concerns intensified that the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary easing will not be able to stave off a severe economic downturn, dealers said.In late European trading, the euro rose to $1.4743 from $1.4657 in New York late on Monday.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar fell to 107.50 yen from 108.23.

“I would say the dollar is not very attractive for a lot of players as they are still concerned about the outlook for the US economy and low interest rates,” said Satoshi Tansho, a dealer at Chuo Mitsui Trust Bank.

Players concerned about the fallout from the US housing slump are likely to pay close attention to US new residential construction figures for January which are due out on Wednesday along with a report on consumer prices.

But “given the Fed’s current easing bias and focus on growth risks, inflation data may have less of an impact on the market than usual,” Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a note to clients.

The dollar fell last week after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke kept the door open for further cuts in interest rates due to continuing signs of trouble in the US economy.

—AFP