U.S. Market January 11, 2001

The last month’s EURJPY correction continued during U.S. trading and it reached 112.35, the highest level since October 1999, as focus has completely shifted from worries about the European recovery to an almost total resistance against holding Japanese assets. USDJPY closed at 117.76, a new high and with the former Japanese Vice Finance Minister Sakakibara stating that 120.00 will be seen, market participants see no hinder for yen to depreciate further. Mainly driven by EURJPY demand, EURUSD rallied from 0.9485 to 0.9550 where it ran into some technical difficulty, but closed on a firm note at 0.9525. USDCHF did little during U.S hours, when it initially reached a high of 1.6145 before retreating to 1.6070. It surged to it’s opening level by the end of the day as the EURCHF cross closed at the daily high.The decision by Bank of England to leave rates unchanged, supported GBPUSD during European trading, but it could not hold on to the 1.5000 level as some late selling out of London took it down to 1.4945, before it bounced to close at 1.4990. Following the EURUSD demand, AUDUSD and NZDUSD closed near the top of their respective ranges, 0.5580 – 0.5630 and 0.4490 – 0.4517.

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