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FOREX-Dollar steadies in quiet market before U.S. holiday

Published 11/26/2008, 08:10 PM
Updated 11/26/2008, 08:12 PM

* Dollar steadies vs euro after rising on safe-haven flows

* Traders say market is quiet before US Thanksgiving holiday

By Satomi Noguchi

TOKYO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The dollar steadied against the euro on Thursday after rising the previous day on a string of weak U.S. economic reports that renewed worries about a deepening economic recession and revived safe-haven flows into the greenback.

Data on Wednesday showed consumer spending in October posted its biggest drop in more than seven years, and consumer confidence fell to a 28-year low in November, further darkening the outlook for the economy ahead of the year-end shopping season.

But the dollar's gains were capped after a slew of U.S. plans to shore up the economy from the widening financial crisis raised concerns about the health of the nation's balance sheet, and prompted some players to question whether the dollar can keep its strength in the medium-term, analysts said.

"The market is trying to find out whether the dollar will shift to a falling trend or not, after seeing it gain on the theme of risk aversion," said Kengo Suzuki, currency strategist at Shinko Securities.

Trading is expected to stay subdued throughout the day with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, but thin market liquidity may also cause choppy price movements, traders said.

The euro struggled versus the dollar and the yen after the European Central Bank cemented expectations of another interest rate cut next week as inflation in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, tumbled this month.

The ECB will hold a policy meeting on Dec. 4 and analysts polled by Reuters expect another 50 basis point cut, which would take interest rates to 2.75 percent, the lowest in more than two years.

The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.2900, after falling as low as $1.2819 during the previous session partly on pessimistic views about the impact of a European 200 billion euro stimulus plan on the financial crisis.

The euro dropped 0.2 percent against the yen from late U.S. trade on Wednesday to 122.95 yen.

The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 95.48 yen, having rebounded from Wednesday's low of 94.60 yen. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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