Forex - US dollar little changed early in Asian session as new leads awaited

Forex - US dollar little changed early in Asian session as new leads awaited

	Published : Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:37 By : Agencies Print this Story

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar was contained within tight ranges against other major currencies early in Asian trading hours Tuesday as market players awaited new direction.

At 9.50 am here (2350 GMT Monday) the dollar was at 123.35 yen, little changed from 123.39 yen in late trading in New York Monday. The euro was at 1.3623 dollars, little changed from 1.3624 dollars in New York.

The greenback had softened against the euro and yen Monday, after euro-zone officials warned about the risks inherent in faster inflation and monetary policy being too accommodative.

European Central Bank member Juergen Stark said a stronger euro could be beneficial. The Dutch finance minister said he was not concerned about the euro's exchange rate.

But NAB Capital said these remarks had had little impact on the euro because the markets had already priced-in an increase in interest rates in the euro zone in September.

In the US Monday, the consumer credit data for May were released, showing consumer credit rose to 12.9 billion dollars -- well above the market's consensus forecast of 5.3 billion dollars -- from 2.6 billion dollars in April.

The data reflect a resurgence in credit card borrowing as a big increase in the cost of gasoline in May reduced disposable incomes, NAB Capital said.

Later Tuesday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on inflation, and the US wholesale inventories data for May and the results of the latest ABC consumer confidence survey are due to be released.

Sydney 9.50 am (2350 GMT Monday)

US dollar

123.35 yen

1.2166 sfr

Euro

1.3623 usd

168.04 yen

1.6572 sfr

0.6760 stg

Sterling

2.0156 usd

248.53 yen

2.4513 sfr

Australian dollar

0.8598 usd

0.4267 stg

106.05 yen

New Zealand dollar

0.7799 usd

paul.daniel@thomson.com

pd/jm

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