Financial Post, Weekly edition, Sat 22 Apr 95, page 60

US$ ends lower in U.S. ahead of G-7 meeting

Reuter

The US$ ended lower Friday, as a two-day rally fizzled ahead of a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations next week.

"No one wants to be too long or too short [of US$s] before the meeting," said Jeffrey Yu, senior dealer at Sanwa Bank in New York.

He noted that fund managers holding US$s were nervous because there was no follow-through buying in the rally that began on Wednesday.

By late New York trading, the US$ was at 1.3703 marks, down from 1.3855 marks late Thursday. It was also down to 82.73 yen, compared with 83.25 yen in New York late Thursday.

Lack of economic data limited US$ trade Friday and fixed market attention steadfastly on the G-7 meeting next week in Washington. Dealers said, at this point, the US$'s fortune is tied to the results of that meeting.

Although most dealers doubt the G-7 will emerge with a co-ordinated plan to rescue the US$, they said Japan's obvious frustration with the yen's meteoric rise - it has jumped 20% this year and pushed the prices of Japanese goods higher - still left some possibility of a deal.

In other currency trading, the French franc weakened further against the mark as dealers remained apprehensive ahead of Sunday's presidential vote.

Jacques Chirac is expected to win the first-round vote, but results will not immediately relieve market tensions as the May 7 second-round ballot still lies ahead.

But dealers said, even after that, it will be weeks before government policies become clearer.

By late New York trading, the US$ was at 1.1325 Swiss francs compared with 1.1460 Swiss francs, while the British pound was little changed at US$1.6115 from US$1.6110 late Thursday.

	This information is provided by the Financial Post.
	Please send comments to: g8@utoronto.ca Revised: June 3, 1995

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