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Dollar gains, bonds fall
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December 24, 2001: 2:05 p.m. ET
Dollar builds strength while U.S. Treasurys lose ground in thin trade.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The dollar made significant moves upward against the yen and the euro Monday, while U.S. Treasurys dipped in lackluster pre-holiday trade as some investors cleaned up their books before year end.
At 1:15 p.m. ET, two-year Treasury notes were down 2/32 to 99-22/32, yielding 3.16 percent. Five-year notes were down 6/32 at 95-26/32, yielding 4.49 percent.
Benchmark 10-year notes fell 13/32 to 98-31/32, yielding 5.13 percent. Thirty-year bonds were down 22/32 to 98-11/32 yielding 5.49 percent.
The greenback pressured the euro to a one-month low Monday, buoyed by holiday-thinned markets and aftershocks from Argentina's massive debt default stemming from its economic crisis.
The dollar climbed to within just shy of the ¥130 mark. The yen has been losing ground against the dollar in December after a string of economic indicators showed the Japanese economy's deepening slide into recession.
At 1:15 p.m. ET, the euro was quoted at 87.72 U.S. cents versus 89.89 U.S. cents Friday.
The dollar bought ¥129.83 compared with ¥129.67 Friday.
Meanwhile, the announcement by Argentina's interim president that the country would default on its $132 billion in debt failed to cause a ripple in safe-haven Treasurys, as investors had anticipated for months that the recession-stricken nation would likely be swamped by its crippling debt burden.
Traders said the market mostly shrugged off the weekend incident in which a man allegedly tried to light explosives in his sneakers on a flight from Paris to Miami, raising new fears of attacks during the holiday season more than three months after Sept. 11.
But in extremely light trade, worries over new attacks and expectations that retailers will post disappointing results this holiday season led some dealers to favor short-term notes over longer-dated issues, traders said. 
--from staff and wire reports
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