950816

Dollar consolidated

NEW YORK: The dollar hovered near opening levels at U.S. midday as the currency moved into a consolidation mode following Tuesday's intervention-led rally.

"The dollar still looks quite strong and sentiment remains bullish after Tuesday's activity," said Tom Benfer, director, foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal. "But right now, things have settled down quite a bit."

At midday, the dollar was at 1.4744/49, slightly lower than 1.4759/64 marks at the open. It was at 97.70/80 yen, slightly higher than the open's 97.66/71 yen.

Moreover, dealers said players were wary of pushing the dollar down amid fear of a repeat of Tuesday's central bank dollar-buying spree.

Earlier, the dollar was little moved by news that the Bundesbank left its repo rate unchanged at 4.45 percent, the level to which it was cut last week.

The dollar also shrugged off news of a surprising 6.7 percent rise in U.S. housing starts.

At midday, the dollar was at 1.2262/72 Swiss francs, down little changed from the open's 1.2267/74 Swiss.

Sterling was at $1.5517/27, virtually unchanged from the opening level. The dollar also traded at Canadian $1.3585/90 from C$1.3591/96.-Reuter