The News Review:

- Dollar Trades Near Three-Week Low Versus Yen Before Retail Data
- Dollar holds up against most Asian currencies
- Ban on gold, sugar futures sought

Dollar Trades Near Three-Week Low Versus Yen Before Retail Data
Bloomberg - May 11, 2008
“The markets are currently correcting excessive optimismon subprime problems,'' said. , Japan's largest currency broker. “Weak data will raiseexpectations of the Fed's rate cut. The dollar remains weakagainst major currencies. '' The dollar traded at 102.

Dollar holds up against most Asian currencies
Economic Times - May 11, 2008
50 to the
dollar on Friday, up from 104. “It’s natural for the dollar
to take a break” after its recent rebound, said Yosuke Hosokawa, head of forex
at Chuo Mitsui Trust Bank. “Although dollar positive
sentiment has eased slightly, a lot of players still believe the greenback is
well supported” as bad news related to the US economy appears to be abating, he
said. Worries over the US
subprime mortgage crisis had generally abated after a series of aggressive
interest rate cuts in Washington to bolster the economy, analysts said. But while markets are moving
on improving sentiment, traders are also questioning whether they should
continue buying US stocks and the dollar, said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. For the dollar to continue
rising, “there should be clear proof that the US credit problem has completely
been resolved, and that the US economy will make a V-shaped recovery,” he added.

Ban on gold, sugar futures sought
Hindu - May 11, 2008
The All India Sarafa Association, an umbrella body for bullion traders, has written to the Prime Minister and Finance Minister seeking a ban in futures trading of gold and silver,

“Sudden rise and fall in the prices of gold and silver, many times in a day, has created instability in the minds of consumers and adversely affected the bullion trade,” the traders’ body President Sheel Chand Jain said here. Echoing his view, Delhi Grain Merchant Association President Om Prakash Jain said that a few companies control the price movement in forward trading and they are responsible for the artificial rise or decline in commodity prices including that of sugar. Commodity market analysts, however, are of the view that a ban in these commodities would not help control volatility as prices are determined by fundamentals and international factors like forex movement and crude oil prices. “Speculation is not the only reason for the price movement of the sweetener. It can affect only up to five per cent of the movement, not beyond that. The price movement mainly depends on demand and supply situation in the country,” Karvy Comtrade’s G Harish said. The government suspended futures trading in soya oil, potato, rubber, chana (gram) yesterday, while rice, wheat, urad and tur was banned early last year.