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Dlr mixed in late

Tokyo, mark

remains vulnerable

TOKYO: The dollar was mixed in late Tokyo trade on Monday, extending gains versus the mark while slipping against the yen as sales of the German currency dominated activity, dealers said.

The mark remained vulnerable to sales in cross trade, particularly versus the yen, which indirectly put downward pressure on the dollar/yen rate, dealers added.

"Selling interest of the mark for yen shows no signs of receding," said a Tokyo dealer with a European bank.

The dollar's gains against the mark were also attributed to remarks from German and French officials, speaking after Sunday's meeting of Group of Seven (G7) nations, dealers said.

Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer said he believed the dollar could rise further, although he said the G7 nations did not discuss future target levels for the dollar.

"The dollar has real potential to rise, as recent market developments have shown," added French Finance Minister Jean Arthuis.

The dollar had risen as high as 1.5190 marks, while the mark had fallen as low as around 70.50 yen.

Meanwhile, the mark also took a beating against the lira as the Italian currency gained ground on a forecast victory by centre-left bloc in Sunday's general elections, dealers said.

The projected victory is widely seen as giving political stability to the nation, favouring the lira.

The mark was quoted at 1029.00/9.50 marks at 0700 GMT, down from its early high of 1034.00 lira.

The dollar/yen arena saw an absence of active trading, moving largely on mark/yen trading, dealers said.

They said Japanese investor bids were detected at the lower end of 107 yen and further buying interest by investors and importers stayed intact at 106.80 yen.

Remarks by Japanese Finance Minister Wataru Kubo that the G7 had agreed to welcome currency moves since last year also failed to affect dollar/yen trading, dealers added.

Dealers in Asia said the focus was on whether the mark would continue to be sold during European and New York trading.

"Should the mark fall decisively below 70.50 yen, we may see it head down close to 68 yen," said Tohru Itami, assistant general manager at Yasuda Trust & Banking Co.

"We would expect dollar/mark to keep heading north and see if it can break through the 1.52 level," added a European bank dealer in Singapore.

DEPOSIT RATES

SINGAPORE: Asian dollar deposit rates were little changed in lacklustre trade with most traders sidelined due mainly to an absence of fresh incentives, dealers said on Monday.

"The market was quiet and featureless in the morning except for some light activity at the shorter and of the market", a local dealer said.

"Most people are sitting on the sidelines and are reluctant to open or hold new positions because there no fresh news or (US) economic indicators coming out tonight", he said.

"But some people are waiting for Tuesday's issue of the (US February) international trade figures and Wednesday's release of the (March) durable goods numbers, for more clues to market direction", he added.

In day-to-day rates, Monday/Tuesday and Tuesday/Wednesday rose 1/8 percentage point each to a common 5-3/8 5-1/4 percent.

Week-fixed rose 1/16 point to 5-3/8 5-1/4 percent.

Among longer dates, one-month was unchanged from last Friday's 5-7/16 5-5/16 percent, three-months unchanged at 5-1/2 5-3/8, six-months unchanged at 5-9/16 5-7/16 and twelve-months unchanged at 5-13/16 5-11/16 percent.-Reuter