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IMM currencies end quiet session mostly lower

CHICAGO: IMM currency futures ended mostly lower, with the March euro spending much of the session in a range after setting a contract low early Tuesday.

A snowstorm on the East Coast kept dealings thin by sidelining many market participants, traders said.

"The snow in New York kind of cancelled the trading day," an IMM currency futures trader said.

The snow also forced the Senate Budget Committee to cancel testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The absence of Greenspan's remarks left U.S. markets without much-anticipated direction.

The Budget Committee said it would try to reschedule Greenspan's testimony.

Separately, the Senate Banking Committee said its hearing on Greenspan's renomination for a fourth term at his current post would take place on Wednesday, as scheduled.

IMM currency futures did not get much direction from new economic data during the day session. Consumer confidence jumped to an all-time high of 144.7 in January from a revised 141.7 in December, the Conference Board said.

March euros opened weaker and fell further to hit a contract low of $1.00300 shortly after the open of pit trade, while the spot euro slipped below parity with the dollar. Buyers appeared after the contract slipped, traders said, boosting nearby euros into a range near steady most of the afternoon.

"It's a similar type of phenomenon we've seen every time we've gotten down here before. We get around parity, get a little below, and then it comes right back bid," said David Solin, partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics.

March yen came under slight pressure from light selling and spent the entire day in negative territory. The contract breached support near $0.009505 to set a fresh session low of $0.009501 and then hovered near that support level. Nearby yen cut losses slightly before the close.

Solin said the yen was feeling the weight of a "terrible" Japanese economy and interest rate differentials that encourage investors to put their money elsewhere.

At settlement, March yen was off $0.000027 at $0.009517, euros off $0.00260 at $1.00530, Swiss francs off $0.0017 at $0.6246, sterling off $0.0056 at $1.6444, Canadian dollars up $0.0027 at $0.6967, Australian dollars up $0.0011 at $0.6553 and Mexican pesos off $0.000100 at $0.103100. -Reuters