7 February 2005, 13:19  U.S. Dollar Makes Gains on Euro

The U.S. dollar gained Monday on the euro, which was trading below US$1.29 following the weekend's Group of Seven meeting, where finance ministers reaffirmed that currency instabilities were undesirable.
The euro was at US$1.2844 in morning trading, down from US$1.2878 at the end of the day Friday.
The British pound fell to US$1.8721 from US$1.8755, while the dollar bought 104.30 yen, up from 104.03 on Friday.
The dollar got a lift from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan ahead of the weekend meeting in London, which indicated that the United States was coming to grips with its huge trade deficit helped boost the dollar.
Traders took Greenspan's comments as a sign that the dollar doesn't necessarily have to weaken to shrink the U.S. current account deficit.
The dollar has been steadily sinking on concerns about the growing U.S. trade and budget deficits, with the 12-nation euro spiking from around US$1.20 in September to an all-time high of US$1.3667 at the end of December.
At the G-7, leaders put some pressure on China about its currency, the yuan, which many nations feel is too low with its peg against the dollar.
A low yuan is believed to give Chinese exporters an unfair advantage by making their products cheap overseas. But Beijing is in no rush to raise the value of its currency because that is a risk to the nation's financial system and economy.
Loosening the peg on the yuan is expected to raise the value of other Asian currencies, including the yen.

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