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The U.S. dollar has been struggling against the yen as risk appetite has fallen following a slide in US stocks, prompted by weak earnings at the world’s biggest industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. Read more

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Forex reserves rose USD 2,724 million to touch USD 311,885 million as on Apr. 11, 2008, mainly due to the increase in foreign currency and assets collections, on a weekly basis.

As per the weekly statistical supplement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Apr. 11, 2008, foreign currency and assets moved up USD 2,247 million to USD 301,394 million.

During the same period, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced by USD 3 million to USD 434 million. While, gold reserves increased by USD 481 million to USD 10,039 million.

Foreign currency assets expressed in USD include the effect of appreciation or depreciation on non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling and Yen) held in reserves.

By IRIS

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - The euro again targeted record highs against the dollar on Monday after higher-than-forecast euro-zone price data reinforced expectations that the inflation-focused European Central Bank will not start cutting rates soon. Read more

A $1.2 million tourism campaign will highlight the biggest events in Sydney’s calendar in a bid to attract more visitors to the city, the NSW government says.

State Tourism Minister Brown officially launched the campaign - dubbed Sydney, Designed to Inspire - at a breakfast at the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday. Read more

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) — The ringgit ended at a new 10-year high against the US dollar today following the surprise move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to tighten its foreign exchange policy to contain inflation, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the ringgit traded firmer against the U.S. dollar at 3.1500/1530 compared with 3.1750/1785 at yesterday’s close.

The ringgit recorded its last 10-year high against the greenback on March 13 when it hit 3.1560.

“The market moved fast today, forcing the ringgit to another new record. This trend is likely to be sustained for quite some time,” the dealer said.

He attributed the ringgit’s appreciation to the strengthening of the Singapore dollar.

Singapore today moved to re-centre its foreign exchange policy band at the current firm level of its dollar nominal effective exchange rate.

The move is expected to be beneficial for Singapore’s economy as a strong currency will help cushion its economy from rising global commodity prices, dealers said. Singapore which has limited natural resources is highly dependent on imports.

The ringgit today declined against the Singapore dollar to 2.3194/3237 from 2.3007/3040 at yesterday’s closing and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1328/1361 from 3.1044/1067.

Compared with the euro, the ringgit was also weaker at 4.9987/9041 from 4.9965/9014 yesterday but it strengthened against the pound sterling to 6.2294/2363 from 6.2597/2649.

– BERNAMA

United Arab Emirates foreign exchange reserves surged 50 per cent in November, the most in at least 18 years, to $75 billion, a central bank treasury official said on Thursday.

That was the same month UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al Suweidi said the world’s fifth-largest oil producer was under pressure to drop its peg to the dollar and might consider linking to a basket instead.

Reserves jumped from $50.4 billion the month before, the biggest rise since data going back to 1990. The central bank official did not want to be identified.

-Reuters

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A United Arab Emirates committee charged with studying foreign exchange policy has recommended that the oil producer should keep its dirham peg to the ailing US dollar at the same rate, state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) said. Read more

Siddique Islam - AHN South Asia Correspondent

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - The central bank of Bangladesh on Thursday sold more the U.S. dollar as a part of its ongoing intervention to keep the foreign exchange market stable, officials say in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, sold US$20 million at prevailing market rate to two commercial banks on the day to meet the growing demand for the currency.

The central bank of Bangladesh started intervening in the inter-bank foreign exchange market through selling of U.S. dollar in October, 2007 aiming to keep the market stable. The BB has since sold over $520 million to the commercial banks as part of its intervention in the market, the central bank officials confirmed.

The central bank is continuously selling the U.S. dollar to the commercial banks giving priority to help settlement of import payment bills for essential items including food grains and petroleum products, they noted. They also said the central bank will continue its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market to help the commercial banks settle their import bills for essentials.

Meanwhile, the money market was active, as banks and financial institutions borrowed cash at high rates from the inter-bank market to meet urgent requirements of their clients, treasury officials said.

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Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.

This is an excerpt from a Market Insight comment that Elliott Wave International’s Senior Currency Strategist Jim Martens posted for his Currency Specialty Service readers on April 1: Read more

The ringgit opened higher against the U.S. dollar Monday on strong buying of the local unit amid a weaker greenback, a dealer said.

At 9.00 am, the ringgit was traded at 3.1860/1890 against the U.S. dollar, up from 3.1920/1940 at last Friday’s closing.

The dealer attributed the ringgit’s uptrend against the greenback this morning to market players’ reaction to the bearish U.S. employment data released last Friday.

The latest U.S. employment data reported the biggest monthly drop in jobs in five years, raising concern that the world’s largest economy might already be in the early stage of recession.

“The ringgit is likely to move within a tight range of between 3.18 and 3.20 against the greenback this week as there is no major events expected to stimulate the local currency,” added the dealer.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mixed.

It depreciated against the Singapore dollar at 2.3052/3084 from 2.3045/3090 last Friday’s closing and it weakened against the Japanese yen at 3.1183/1216 from 3.1155/1187 previously.

Compared with the pound sterling, the ringgit appreciated at 6.3414/3490 from 6.3827/3896 and it also strengthened against the euro at 5.0004/0061 from 5.0137/0178 previously.

– BERNAMA