Forex - Yen reverses some of earlier gains, but trade remains nervous

LONDON, Aug 17, 2007 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- The yen reversed some of its earlier steep across-the-board gains after hitting a fresh 14-month low against the US dollar, with analysts citing Japanese investor buying and speculation of possible Bank of Japan intervention.

The yen has witnessed sharp increases in recent days as the credit crunch crisis sparked a massive flight from risk and caused carry trades to unwind. Carry trades are a risky strategy -- popular until recently -- where money is borrowed in low-yielding currencies in order to invest in higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

Given the level of risk aversion that has flooded the market, however, any rebound is unlikely to be maintained, merely encouraging investors to move back in and buy the yen on dips.

"The inability to sustain the highs is not a reflection of the yen but more a reflection of the volatile markets we currently trade within," said Matthew Foster-Smith at Thomson IFR Markets.

Analysts also noted speculation that the Bank of Japan could intervene to stem the yen's rise. Reports have already emerged that the BoJ could hold off from raising interest rates again for the time being.

"In the short-term, yen weakening intervention has become a strong possibility as it would help stabilising international capital markets and would allocate liquidity to where it is mostly needed," BNP Paribas analysts said.

The reversal of the yen's gains also allowed some reprieve for high-yielding currencies, including the Australian dollar and the pound, but this again is expected to be short-lived.

"While the sharp sell-off over the last two days imply that a bounce in the pair (Australian dollar/US dollar) is possible, investors seem nervous and happy to unwind their long Australian dollar positions," BNP Paribas said.

The Australian dollar's steep declines over recent days have prompted action by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which announced it had intervened to stem the losses. RBA governor Glenn Stevens said intervention was small and that the central bank is prepared to intervene "from time to time" if conditions are "disorderly".

Meanwhile, focus this afternoon will centre on the release of the latest US University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, which could provoke more interest than usual given the high sensitivity of US consumers to developments on financial markets.

"It will be interesting to see whether the recent slide in equity markets and, for that matter, house prices have already started to weigh on consumer confidence with the preliminary University of Michigan index due this afternoon," analysts at WestLB said.

London 1209 GMT

London 0820 GMT

US dollar

yen 113.76 up from

112.67

sfr 1.2064 down from 1.2091

cad 1.0711 down from 1.0759

Euro

usd 1.3461 up from

1.3417

stg 0.6791 down from 0.6802

yen 153.09 up from

151.20

sfr 1.6244 up from

1.6223

Sterling

usd 1.9818 up from

1.9719

yen 225.25 up from

222.27

sfr 2.3907 up from

2.3841

Australian dollar

usd 0.7811 up from

0.7771

stg 0.3940 up from

0.3938

yen 88.74 up from

87.62

New Zealand dollar

usd 0.6825 up from

0.6749

yen 77.50 up from

76.27

COPYRIGHT

Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.

Earthquake in Peru Kills Hundreds

LIMA, Peru, Aug. 16 — A powerful earthquake shook Peru Wednesday night, killing at least 337 people, Civil Defense authorities said today. Another 1,350 were injured, according to Peru’s Health Ministry

Most of the reported dead were in the region near Ica, south of the capital, which emergency workers said appeared to be the area that was hardest hit. The earthquake, whose magnitude was estimated at 7.9, was centered off Peru’s Pacific shore near Ica.

Many people were killed in the rubble of their homes, and some 300 people were in a cathedral when it collapsed. Emergency workers said the overall death toll might be even greater.

Ica was blacked out, as were smaller towns along the coast south of Lima. Rescue workers reported difficulty getting to Ica because of cracks in the highway and downed power lines.

A cathedral in the hard-hit port city of Pisco was destroyed, according to local media reports, which said some 300 people were inside the structure during a mass at the time of the earthquake.

Mayor Juan Mendoza Uribe of Pisco said that 70 percent of the port city of about 60,000 people, located 135 miles south of Lima, was leveled by the quake.

“So much effort and our city is destroyed,” he said, crying audibly, in comments broadcast on radio station RPP in Lima.

The city remained without electricity this morning.

Hundreds of families were sleeping on the streets of the city this morning, according to Andina, Peru’s state news agency, and 25 bodies were placed in front of municipal buildings after the morgue filled to capacity.

Office workers in Lima fled tall buildings that shook in two waves that lasted around 20 seconds each and cut power lines, Reuters reported.

“I was in class on the fifth floor, and suddenly everything started to shake and glass began falling,” said Carolina Montero, 37, a banking administrator and finance student who lives in Callao, a coastal city near Lima. “People got extremely nervous.”

Fernando Calderon, an American in Lima, said he was in his hotel when the quake struck. He described the scene as unreal, with buildings swaying from right to left, and the ground shaking.

“We realized everybody was out, and the ground was shaking for a minute,” he said by telephone in an interview with CNN. “Finally we started hearing glass breaking, and things falling out of the building and that’s when everybody started screaming, praying, children crying. It was just awful.”

Electra Anderson, another American, told CNN by telephone from her apartment in Peru that it seemed when the quake began that many people had no idea what was happening, and ran into the streets screaming and crying.

“We’re used to earthquakes,” said Ms. Anderson, who is from California. “But it just didn’t stop; it kept going and going, and it kept getting stronger and stronger.”

She added that she counted about 70 aftershocks: “It’s just been non-stop.”

Her belongings in the apartment went flying and the glass windows appeared to be bending in. “People really thought they were going to die,” Ms. Anderson said.

The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake struck about 90 miles southeast of Lima at a depth of about 25 miles. Four strong aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 5.4 to 5.9 followed.

A tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, and a small tsunami was detected, but it posed no major threat and the warning was later lifted, news services reported.

The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru was in September 2005, when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Peru’s northern jungle, killing four people. In 2001, a 7.9-magnitude quake struck near the southern Andean city of Arequipa, killing 71 people.

Laura Puertas reported from Lima, Peru, and Jon Elsen reported from New York. Simon Romero contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, and Christine Hauser contributed from New York.

Penev returns!

Dimitar Penev has been reappointed coach of Bulgaria for a third time on a contract to run until the end of UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying.

Second place
The 62-year-old replaces Hristo Stoichkov who resigned in April to take charge of RC Celta de Vigo in Spain, leaving PFC Levski Sofia boss Stanimir Stoilov to oversee the home-and-away victories against Belarus in June. Those results left Bulgaria in second place in Group G, two points behind leaders Romania and one clear of the Netherlands having played a game more than the Dutch.

Golden period
Penev's first spell in charge was for one match on an interim basis in 1989, although his full-time appointment in August 1991 coincided which a golden period which saw Bulgaria reach the semi-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and qualify for EURO '96™. Penev, who will be assisted by goalkeeping coach Lyubomir Sheitanov and former PFC CSKA Sofia defender Krassimir Bezinski, will return to the helm for the friendly against Wales in Burgas on 22 August, with an 8 September trip to the Netherlands to follow.-uefa.com

Skype Prime™ Beta – offer advice and earn money

With Skype Prime™ Beta you can share your skills by setting yourself up as a call provider offering services to other Skype users - and earn money in the process. You can use it to offer all sorts of advice, from teaching others about the rules of football to giving a one-to-one cookery class over a video call.

Alternatively, if there’s something you want to learn about or get advice on, look for users who have set up a service and call them to find out more.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en/products/skypeprime/

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!! , now i'm 20 years old.