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IMM currency futures end quiet sesssion mixed

CHICAGO: IMM currency futures ended a lackluster session mixed, with euro futures slipping into a range after paring some of their earlier losses.

March euros opened down sharply and fell further on light dealer selling near $0.99250, one IMM currency futures trader said. The selling took the March euro to a $0.98990 session low.

The contract soon began to rebound and pierced intraday resistance at $0.99360, $0.99530 and $0.99600. Falling US stocks prompted the March euro to shed losses, traders said, as weakness in dollar-denominated equities often lends support to the euro.

Euro futures could not entirely shake off pressure that began to build overnight on comments out of the Eurozone. European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer said in a published report that the market had misinterpreted the ECB's monthly bulletin to mean the ECB was likely to hike interest rates soon.

"The overall weakness in the euro reflect(ed) a little bit of disappointment with regards to interest rate expectations from Europe," said Lisa Finstrom, senior currency analyst at Salomon Smith Barney.

March yen remained firm the entire session, lifted in part by early selling of euro/yen, traders said. Nearby yen hit a $0.009067 session high early but soon trimmed gains, lacking momentum to break out of a moderate trading range.

The Australian dollar reached a new contract low of $0.6135 after Australia's private new capital expenditure fell 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 1999, nearly double the 4.5 percent decline forecast.

"That was enough to keep the currency following its weaker tone, as well as continued focus on questions about how much of the future Fed tightening would the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australian) be expected to match," Finstrom said.

The March Canadian dollar, which ended higher, received some support from selling of the Australian dollars to buy the Canadian, Finstrom said.

At settlement, March yen was up $0.000017 at $0.009028, euros off $0.00870 at $0.99540, Swiss francs off $0.0045 at $0.6190, sterling off $0.0018 at $1.6010, Canadian dollars up $0.0033 at $0.6876, Australian dollars off $0.0050 at $0.6159 and Mexican pesos off $0.000100 at $0.105825.-Reuters