BLBG: Yen Falls Against Euro, Dollar as U.S. Stock Futures Pare Drop
By Ye Xie
Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The yen fell against the euro and the dollar for the first time in three days as U.S. stock-index futures pared their losses.
``Equity futures are turning around,'' said Thomas Benfer, vice president of foreign exchange at BMO Capital Markets in New York. ``It helps the euro-yen and dollar-yen, the usual suspects.''
The yen dropped 0.7 percent to 122.78 against the euro at 9:20 a.m. in New York, from 121.99 yesterday. Japan's currency fell 0.7 percent to 97.13 versus the dollar, from 96.43. The dollar traded at $1.2639 per euro, compared with $1.2650.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in December lost 0.7 percent after earlier dropping as much as 2.6 percent.
``It's still an equity-driven market,'' said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo & Co. in New York.
International demand for U.S. financial assets rose more than economists forecast in September as China surpassed Japan to become the biggest foreign holder of Treasuries.
Total net purchases of long-term equities, notes and bonds increased a net $66.2 billion in September from $21 billion the previous month, the Treasury said today. Stocks plunged and Treasuries rose in September as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson negotiated for two weeks with Congress over a $700 billion plan to address the worst financial crisis in 70 years.
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