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IMM currency futures

end barely mixed

CHICAGO: IMM currency futures eroded during late floor trading and touched pit-session lows but still finished barely mixed.

Traders said closing activity picked up from a languid afternoon pace, with bank selling seen entering after the dollar managed to stay on firmer footing that some had expected, given the steep slide in US Treasury bond and stock markets.

"It took all day for the dollar to catch a decent bid," said one floor broker. "It (dollar) really held up. That fact that it didn't break....convinced some it is going higher."

The floor broker also said the market has been keeping one eye on ongoing tensions in the Korean peninsula, which President Clinton and South Korean president Kim Young-sam will discuss at a meeting next Tuesday.

The White House said Monday it sees nothing that indicates an offensive buildup that implies hostilities as prelude to war after recent North Korean incursions into the demilitarized zone that separates it from South Korea.

Traders also said they waited to see what direction the market takes during Asian trading tonight and when European markets return from the long Easter holiday weekend.

Currency futures opened on their pit-session peaks, slashed gains then range-traded until the late pullback, with more traders citing the inability of currencies to carry through on the morning's upside as reason for the decline.

"They didn't follow through on buystops," said another floor broker after June marks tried but failed to hit stops that were expected to rest above the $0.6825 level.

"The dollar held (but) I can't figure out where the (money) flows are going," he added. "Obviously, people are taking their money out of (US) bonds and stocks. I think when we get Asia open, that's when will see some flows."

Additional resistance loomed at the $0.6851 and $0.6881 levels in nearby marks, while Swiss francs were seen struggling to overcome the $0.8534 and $0.8584 areas.

At the end of pit trading, June yen were down $0.000007 at $0.009380, marks rose $0.0007 to $0.6781, Swiss francs eased $0.0002 to $0.8424, Sterling dipped $0.0002 to $1.5294, Canadian dollar slipped $0.0005 to $0.7369. The Australian dollar rose $0.0005 to $0.7812, and the Mexican peso lost $0.001025 to $0.123675.-Reuter