| Canada Afternoon: C$ Slips Lower With Established Range
TORONTO (Dow Jones)--The Canadian dollar ended moderately lower but within recent ranges Wednesday as oil retreated in afternoon trading and the currency came under some pressure from cross selling against the euro and the pound. The U.S. dollar was trading at C$1.1852 at 3:50 p.m. EST (2050 GMT), from C$1.1829 at 8:00 a.m. EST (1300 GMT), and from C$1.1824 late Tuesday. "We're still just stuck in a range, here. We are now at the weaker end of the range we've seen for most of the week," said Firas Askari, managing director of foreign exchange at the Bank of Montreal in Toronto. Against the backdrop of some unimpressive Canadian data releases, hedge funds accounts have been inclined to sell the currency in recent trading, he said. "We've seen some fast money, hedge fund type money, basically like the short Canada trades versus the U.S.," he said.
REFILE-PREVIEW-G7 ministers head to Essen talks at odds over yen
* G7 to address foreign exchange rates, hedge fund transparency, promoting energy efficiency, fiscal policy in Africa, IMF reform and emerging bond markets. By Paul Carrel BERLIN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations meet in Germany this Friday and Saturday divided over whether the club should send markets a message on the weak yen. Euro zone countries have complained loudly about the Japanese currency, fearing its descent to record lows against the euro is damaging their economies by making European goods and services too expensive compared with those from Japan. But they have won no support from the United States, which says the yen's value is set fairly -- a position echoed by Canada. Britain has remained silent and Japan has played down the issue, saying the yen is unlikely to dominate the talks.
Venezuela to Sell $5 Billion in Bonds, Sanguino Says (Update3)
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela will sell as much as $5 billion of bonds to local investors this month to help halt a slide in the currency that has fueled inflation, the National assembly's financial committee chairman said. State-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA will offer about $3.5 billion of bolivar-denominated debt in several sales, said Ricardo Sanguino, head of the committee. The Treasury will sell about $1.5 billion of bonds due in April 2017, whose coupons payments would be made in dollars or at an exchange rate above the official rate of 2,150 per dollar, he said. The sales may suggest a policy change by President Hugo Chavez's government, which has said a dearth of foreign exchange triggered by currency controls imposed in February 2003 wasn't to blame for quicker inflation.
Yen Gains Versus Dollar; Japan's Currency Called Undervalued
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The yen rebounded from a four-year low versus the dollar this week as European officials said Japan's currency is undervalued. The currency had its first weekly gain versus the dollar in about a month as U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was watching the yen ``very carefully.'' Investors bought yen before next week's Group of Seven meeting on speculation members would discuss the currency's recent decline. The Japanese currency has weakened 1.7 percent against the dollar this year. ``Investors pared back their extreme short yen positions ahead of the G-7 meeting,'' said Brian Garvey, senior currency strategist with State Street Global Markets in Boston, one of the world's largest custodians of investor assets with $10.7 trillion.
Asian currencies mixed against dollar
HONG KONG, Feb 11 (AFP): Major Asian currencies were mixed against the US dollar last week, with the yen sliding ahead of a key meeting of Group of Seven finance chiefs, but the Australian dollar gaining ground.
JAPANESE YEN: The yen is set to remain under pressure from the dollar after losing ground amid speculation that Group of Seven (G7) finance chiefs would fail to issue a united call for a stronger Japanese currency, dealers said.
The Japanese currency stood at 121.32 to the dollar late Friday, down from 120.76 a week ago ahead of the G7 meeting in Germany, where ministers decided as expected not to single out the weak yen as a threat to global growth.
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR: The Australian currency is likely to struggle against the greenback this week amid concerns that lower-than-expected inflation figures will see the Reserve Bank take a softer stance on interest rates, dealers said.
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