The euro eased against the dollar in early trade today, as the greenback continued to gain support after the White House declaration overnight that the strong-dollar policy remains in place after the appointment of John Snow as Treasury Secretary. At 0930, the euro was trading at USD1.0266, after having come close to the key USD1.03 level in afternoon trade yesterday. Against sterling, the single currency stood at STG0.6419 this morning There had been speculation that President George Bush's new drive to revive the US economy might hinge on weakening the dollar to boost export competitiveness, but market fears that this might be the case have been allayed for the moment
However, dollar gains are expected to be limited in light of reports suggesting that President Bush could declare war on Iraq before the end of the week Meanwhile, sterling was narrowly rangebound in early London dealing ahead of the release of jobs data and the minutes of the latest Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, dealers said. November jobless figures due out at 9.30 am are expected to be flat, with October's unexpected decline to historic lows confirmed as a blip. ///www.fxcentre.com