Dollar Off Against Most Major Rivals, But Tops Yen on Greenspan's Remarks
NEW YORK -- Wall Street's failure to repeat Tuesday's stellar performance kicked the dollar lower against most major currencies.</br></br>It gained against the yen, however, as congressional testimony by Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman, raised fresh fears that Japan will suffer some fallout from Southeast Asia's financial crisis.</br></br>The dollar's performance was closely tied to that of U.S. equities yesterday, as it has been for the past week. So enthusiasm for the U.S. currency was dampened when the Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up a meager 8.35 points. Disappointed investors had hoped that Tuesday's unprecedented 337-point rally marked the beginning of a longer-term recovery.</br></br>"The [currency] market is still very sensitive to the gyrations in the Dow," said Dennis Pettit, vice president, foreign exchange, at Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.</br></br>Wall Street's rebound on Tuesday helped restore some confidence in Asia's jittery stock markets on Wednesday but traders said a large cloud still hangs over the region and over other emerging markets in Latin America.