The US dollar fell sharply yesterday after South Korea reignited fears that central banks are looking to diversify their foreign exchange reserves away from the greenback.
The Bank of Korea said that "as foreign exchange reserves increase", it would "diversify the currencies in which it invests" and target higher-yielding investments, specifically mentioning the Australian and Canadian dollars, as well as non-government debt.
Though the story broke on Monday, it was only in yesterday's Asian trade that the market reacted to the news. The initial dollar sell-off was exacerbated by the greenback breaking through several technical barriers, triggering stop-loss selling. This saw the dollar fall 1.3 per cent to a five-week low of $1.3235 against the euro, 1.3 per cent to $0.0096 against the yen, and 0.6 per cent to $1.9083 versus sterling, a seven-week low. - (Financial Times Service)
Minister keeps an 'open mind' on Bill
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mr Brennan, is "keeping an open mind" on whether to alter a stipulation that prevents smaller pension schemes from borrowing monies for the purposes of their pension funds.
"No decision has been reached on the matter," a spokesman for the Minister said. Mr Brennan's spokesman was commenting following a claim by a "working party" of the pensions industry in Ireland last night that he would introduce an amendment at the report stage of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill next Tuesday.
The spokesman said the Bill was currently at the committee stage and Mr Brennan had met several interest groups regarding elements of the Bill.
Kerry Group joins bid for food firm
Kerry Group and Dutch chemical company DSM are among those bidding in the second round of the auction for the flavouring unit of Danish food ingredients company Chr Hansen, according to the Financial Times Deutschland.
Citing financial and industry sources, the paper reported that a number of financial investors, including Blackstone, EQT, Apax and CVC, have also made offers. The business is expected to fetch between €700 million and €1 billion.
Trinity Biotech profits fall to €5m
Irish diagnostics specialist Trinity Biotech has posted pre-tax profits of $5.2 million (€3.9 million) for 2004, down from $9 milion the previous year.
The company said the profits fall was due mainly to a rise in administrative and sales costs because it increased its sales team in the US. These costs rose from $16.7 million in 2003 to $27.3 million last year.
B of I issues €600m in tier one capital
Bank of Ireland Capital Funding has issued €600 million in tier one capital, the core capital that banks are required to have by the Central Bank.
The bank said the transaction was part of its normal capital management process.
