19 October 2001, 12:51 Dollar almost unchanged against yen in directionless market
TOKYO, Oct. 19 (Kyodo) - By: Kakumi Kobayashi The U.S. dollar
was almost unchanged against the yen Friday in directionless Tokyo
trading as many players sat on the sidelines.
At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 121.17-20 yen, compared with
121.05-15 yen at 5 p.m. Thursday in New York and 120.93-95 in Tokyo
late Thursday.
During the day, the dollar moved in an extremely tight range
between 121.08 yen and 121.33 yen, changing hands most frequently
at 121.20 yen.
The euro, meanwhile, traded at $0.9016-9020 and 109.27-31 yen,
compared with $0.9035-45 and 109.45-55 yen at 5 p.m. Thursday in
New York.
"We have seen all day few players taking aggressive positions
in the dollar-yen market," said Katsunori Suzuki, foreign exchange
manager at Citibank in Tokyo.
Since morning, the dollar was stuck at little over 121.00 yen.
Dealers said participants were left groping for direction and the
number of players was smaller.
"Also, players are getting used to the continuing reports of
discoveries of anthrax bacteria compared with earlier this week,"
Suzuki said.
Players also showed an almost muted response to Japanese Finance
Minister Masajuro Shiokawa's reported remark Friday that Japan is
not seeking to weaken the yen but that its levels should reflect
fundamentals.
Shiokawa has been known to support a weaker yen against the
dollar.
The trend of the dollar fluctuating narrowly without direction
is likely to continue next week, dealers said.
"All I can say is that what happens next week depends on
developments in the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan and the
anthrax cases," said Tatsuro Karitani, global foreign exchange
markets and foreign exchange trading manager at the Industrial Bank
of Japan.
Dealers also dismissed the possibility that the results of the
weekend summit meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shanghai would affect foreign exchange
markets next week.
"Currencies are comparatively stable. Foreign exchange issues
are unlikely to be on the agenda at the APEC meeting," said a
hedge fund manager in Tokyo.
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