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IMM currency

futures mixed

CHICAGO: IMM currency futures rebounded late to finish edgy pit trading mixed on Wednesday.

Traders tied the active late bounce, which was especially evident in June marks, mainly to profittaking among shorts after the contract finally found a floor near key support and before US inflation figures this week.

They said the mark gained ample ground in the sterling cross on anxiety about Thursday's UK by-election in Staffordshire. They also cited accompanying jitters and rumours about UK Prime Minister John Major's political future.

"We heard a rumour that Major was going to resign", said a floor analyst of why the mark suddenly surged in that cross. "It hit at Europe's close... the timing of it was good. It (futures rally) was just a lot of scrambling".

The UK by-election is expected to cut Major's parliamentary majority to one seat.

Although sentiment generally has turned bearish on currencies, with few looking for the US Federal Reserve to ease credit as long as inflation stays controlled, they remained flustered by the prospect that US reports this week could reveal more inflation pressures than anticipated.

That uncertainty also weighed down US stock and bond markets, which skidded late on Wednesday.

March producer price index is forecast rising 0.4 percent with the core rate seen up 0.2 percent. Friday's consumer price index is expected to gain 0.3 percent overall and rise 0.2 percent without food and energy.

June marks earlier during the day had punched below support zones, including $0.6685 or 1.5017 and $0.6673 or 1.5045, but finally found a floor near $0.6660 or 1.5075 spot.

"We got to a couple of levels on the downside but then tested more-major dollar resistance and it held", said a broker.

In the yen, traders also note skittishness about the April 17 summit in Tokyo between Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and President Clinton.

Although the talks are expected to focus on defense issues, traders still expect some trade issue discussions that could impact the dollar during a US election year.

June yen ended down $0.000011 at $0.009311, marks ended flat at $0.6705, Swiss francs fell $0.0029 to $0.8288, sterling fell $0.0066 to $1.5130, Canadian dollar rose $0.0012 to $0.7379, Australian dollar added $0.0008 to $0.7847, and Mexican peso rose $0.000875 to $0.125525.-Reuter