Eurodollar Bonds Are Slightly Lower In Light Trading --- Special to The Wall Street Journal
Seasoned Eurodollar bonds ended 1/8 to 1/4 point lower Friday as the market focused on the dollar's continuing losses against many other major currencies.</br></br>Traders said attention has turned to the currency markets after weeks of waiting for the U.S. Congress and the White House to negotiate proposals to cut the federal budget deficit. Trading was extremely thin after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday closed U.S. markets. Dealers said they expect to see a bigger reaction to the dollar's fall when trading resumes today.</br></br>The only new issue Friday was 10 billion yen ($74.4 million) of seven-year floating-rate notes for the Council of Europe Resettlement Fund, via LTCB International Ltd. The issue, paying 0.55 point under the Japanese long-term prime rate and priced at 100.20, was fully preplaced and isn't expected to trade.</br></br>Belgium's decision to issue 55 billion yen of bonds last week signaled the attractiveness of Euroyen bonds, traders said. The issue was well absorbed by the market. More Euroyen issues are expected this week, a syndication official said.</br></br>British government bonds, or gilts, ended 9/16 higher, in line with the British pound's rise. But with interest rates unlikely to fall in the near term, the market is expected to be lackluster over the next few weeks.