U.S. Market March 05, 2001

The US market was quiet in activity as an expected massive snowfall to fall on the US East Coast amounted to more hype than the previous Y2K scenario of December 1999. However, an expected storm on Tuesday is expected to thin out the liquidity during NY hours as dealers will have difficulty getting into work. The Euro traded off its intra-day highs after slower eurozone service sector growth delivered fresh evidence on Monday that activity in the currency bloc has cooled this year. The gap between its fastest and slowest members within the EU widening. February's Reuters Eurozone services activity index fell to a 23-month low, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to drop a 'wait-and-see' policy towards lower interest rates.

Yen decisively pulls away from session's lows after being punished in overnight dealings against dollar, Euro. Dollar Yen drifts near 119 yen level after testing 119.75 earlier in the trading session. Adding to the Euro’s intra-day woes was a report that the number of people out of work in Germany rose 19,000 in February, unadjusted for seasonal influences, the newspaper Bild-Zeitung reported, without citing sources.

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