U.S. Market December 18, 2000,

The FOMC meeting on Tuesday with its competing economic and political currents kept the New York currency markets from making any firm statement today. Though the euro had vaulted over 0.9000 in European trading for the first time in more than three months, until the Fed makes clear its intentions tomorrow, the usd retains some lingering strength. New York trading opened and closed near 0.8950, but with the Dow up over 200 points eur/usd was restrained from any runaway move. Market expectation is heavily in favor of the Fed adopting a neutral tone on inflation or even warning that recession is now a greater risk. The usd/jpy reached a peak of 112.75 early but then fell almost a figure in slow pre-holiday trading to 111.90, from there it bounced to close at 112.05. Many of the normal market participants were absent from speculative activity today , and most banks and corporations will refrain from entering into new positions until January.

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