20000121

IMM currency futures end mixed awaiting G7, Ifo

CHICAGO: IMM currency futures ended a light session mixed Wednesday, as players awaited this weekend's Group of Seven meeting and Thursday's release of German Ifo business survey data.

Thin trading conditions exaggerated small deals.

March yen ended higher on moderate fund buying, which triggered technical buying. One fund was a step-up buyer of about 1,500 contracts.

Yen futures had opened lower, pressured by sentiment that G7 finance ministers would support a lower yen, traders said.

March yen cleared resistance near $0.009545, $0.009550 and $0.009577. The contract hit buy stops near $0.009560 to trade to its session high of $0.009594.

Fund buying also helped euros to end higher. The March euro contract began lower ahead of the Ifo data, due out on Thursday, and broke support early at $1.01390 to hit a session low of $1.01270 before reversing course.

"The expectations are for a fairly strong report," said David Durrant, currency strategist at Bank Julius Baer. "The only thing is those expectations increase the side for which disappointment can be created. If the expectations are for low data, they have more of a chance to sort of please, and if the expectation is for high data they have more of a chance to disappoint."

The Mexican peso traded higher to hit its existing contract high of $0.1045000, then erased gains and traded lower.

At settlement, March yen was up $0.000029 at $0.009577, euros ahead $0.00010 at $1.01640, Swiss francs off $0.0002 at $0.6311, sterling up $0.0072 at $1.6434, Canadian dollar down $0.009 at $0.6894, Australian dollars off $0.0017 at $0.6639 and Mexican pesos down $0.000025 at $0.104300. -Reuters