NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The dollar lost ground to the euro and yen Tuesday, at one point reaching intra-day trading lows against the euro, before recovering to close lower but above the lowest level of the session.
The euro bought $1.3429, dipping from a new record posted earlier in the day at $1.3470, but the euro was still trading higher against the dollar than it had late Monday, when it bought $1.3396.
The dollar bought ¥102.88, down from ¥103.26 late Monday but more than a dollar above Friday's ¥101.83, its lowest since January 2000.
The dollar slid to new lows earlier in the day as investors, tiring of tough talk on exchange rates by European officials, dismissed new warnings from euro zone finance ministers about the dangers of the rising euro.
In a joint statement, European finance ministers meeting in Brussels late Monday charged that "excessive volatility and disorderly movements" in exchange rates were hurting growth and added that they "will monitor the situation closely," according to Reuters.
These comments, which were the group's most stark warning to date on foreign exchange, took on added weight with the backing of European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet.
But analysts said the remarks echoed what euro zone finance ministers have been saying individually for some time and were unlikely to trouble the United States, which has shown little inclination to intervene to stop the dollar's slide.
"The finance ministers are not really going beyond statements that have already been put out, and until something new is said, we will see the dollar going lower," Larry Brickman, currency strategist at Bank of America in New York, told Reuters.
Treasuries barely moved after traders shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing business productivity growth missed Wall Street's forecasts.
The benchmark 10-year note was little changed on the session at 100-6/32 to yield 4.23 percent, and the 30-year bond was also flat at 107-1/32 to yield 4.90 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The two-year note edged lower 1/32 of a point to 99-28/32 to yield 2.94 percent, while the five-year note was unchanged at 99-19/32 to yield 3.59 percent.
Business productivity climbed at a revised 1.8 percent annual rate, while growth in unit labor costs was nudged up to a 1.8 percent pace, the Labor Department said.
Wall Street had expected a rise to a 2 percent clip from 3.9 percent in the second quarter.
|
