/www.fxserver.com/ Major currencies were mixed late morning as investors moved to the sidelines amid growing fears of possible US attacks on Iraq, dealers said.
"Investors were not taking part in the market. Rather, they opted to take a wait-and-see stance as they worried about a possible war with Iraq," said Yoshitaka Noumi, dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
The White House said yesterday President George W Bush was "concerned" about what he believes are omissions in Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations.
"As the situation in Iraq is getting tense, investors are prone to sell the dollar. But ... the yen (is not supported) either due to a prolonged economic slump and the depressed Japanese stockmarket," Noumi said.
Tokyo 11.30 am Sydney 11.45 am New York 4.10 pm
Dollar
yen 121.12 up from 120.85 121.08
sfr 1.4260 unchanged 1.4260 1.4256
Euro
usd 1.0250 down from 1.0264 1.0262
stg 0.6403 up from 0.6398 0.6409
yen 124.14 up from 124.04 124.29
sfr 1.4616 down from 1.4626 1.4632
Sterling
usd 1.6008 down from 1.6041 1.6004
yen 193.88 down from 193.94 193.85
sfr 2.2827 up from 2.2825 2.2819
Australian dollar
usd 0.5647 down from 0.5659 0.5647
stg 0.3527 down from 0.3528 0.3526
yen 68.39 unchanged 68.39 68.40