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Dollar dawdles

NEW YORK: The dollar wound up US morning trade right where it started after profit-taking momentarily interrupted the latest leg of the current unwinding of the mark, traders said.

After early trading saw the dollar touch a 1.5222-mark high last posted on February 14, 1995, the greenback slipped toward support at 1.5160 marks before recovering.

The dollar eased to 1.5190/93 marks at midday from 1.5194/99 at the open and to 106.50/60 yen from 106.55/65.

Mark/Lira fell to an 18-month low amid rampant speculation that Italy could rejoin the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and ultimately participate in a single European currency.

Dollar/mark rallied initially on the lira euphoria. "The lira move was a bit overdone, but as long as people are reacting to the news, you react, too", Aeschbach said.

Dollar/yen failed to escape Monday's trading points. A slumping mark/yen has halted the dollar's recent rally against the yen, but buyers appear each time the dollar wavers.

Mark/yen crashed to a four-month low at 70.06 before limping higher to the 70.15/20 level.

Elsewhere, the dollar was nearly flat at 1.2291/98 Swiss francs from 1.2292/02 at the open. Sterling rose to $1.5158/63 from $1.5120/30.

The greenback stood little changed at Canadian $1.3617/22 from C$1.3614/19.-Reuter