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Dollar rises against the euro, falls against yen

The dollar strengthened Friday versus its major rivals except the yen as reports from key UN officials indicated that the diplomatic wrangling which has held up any military action against Iraq is set to continue, at least for the time being.

Many analysts felt the presentations by UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei provided little new insight into how the efforts to disarm Iraq will ultimately play out. Blix and ElBaradei said that they had made progress in the last two weeks, but that Iraq was not fully complying with the UN inspectors.

During the trading session, dollar watchers observed "primarily a churning within well-worn ranges as the market awaits for fresh new developments" on the geopolitical front, said Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at HSBC Securities in New York.

Late Friday in New York, the euro was trading at US$1.0794, down from US$1.0822 late Thursday. The dollar was changing hands at Japanese yen 120.30, down from Japanese yen 120.61 Thursday. Against the Swiss currency, the dollar was valued at SF1.3618, up from SF1.3561 , while British pound was at US$1.6142, down from US$1.6189 Thursday.

The yen found a bit of traction from news that Japan's economy grew slightly in the fourth quarter.
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