Dollar sags against yen as Syria concerns sap risk appetite

TOKYO - The dollar struggled against the yen on Thursday as investors sought shelter in the safe-haven Japanese currency on concerns over the possibility of Western military action against Syria.

The geopolitical tensions shifted some focus away from the US-China trade standoff, with the dollar last trading little changed at 106.810 yen after losing 0.4 percent overnight. The yen often draws demand in times of market turmoil and political tensions.

The dollar had risen to 107.400 yen on Tuesday after comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping calmed fears over a US-China trade war, which had gripped global financial markets over the past few weeks.

The respite for the greenback was short lived, however, as focus shifted to the possibility of wider military conflict in the Middle East.

Tensions increased after US President Donald Trump warned Russia on Wednesday of imminent military action in Syria over a suspected poison gas attack, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and lambasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The yen has gained against the dollar on geopolitical concerns. The dollar has weakened against other currencies as well, but other factors are more at play, such as higher commodity prices and ECB monetary policy expectations," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.

"As for the Syrian tensions, divisions are seemingly being drawn along Cold War era lines with the United States, Britain and France on one side and Russia on the other, suggesting any standoff could be prolonged," Yamamoto said.

The euro was up 0.05 percent at $1.2375 and on its fifth session of gains, supported this week as comments from European Central Bank officials reinforced views that the central bank is on track to normalize monetary policy.

Commodity-linked currencies were also buoyant against the dollar with crude oil prices at their highest since late 2014 due to the Syria tensions. The Canadian dollar reached a seven-week high of C$1.2545 per dollar overnight and last traded at C$1.2570.

The Australian dollar was steady at $0.7760 after touching $0.7773, the highest since Mar. 22.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was down 0.1 percent at 89.457 after dipping overnight to a two-week trough of 89.355.

With attention on Syria the dollar did not receive much support from hawkish-sounding Federal Reserve meeting minutes.

All of the Fed's policymakers felt that the US economy would firm further and that inflation would rise in the coming months, minutes of the central bank's last policy meeting on March 20-21 released on Wednesday showed.

The Hong Kong dollar fell to a new 33-year low of 7.8500 per dollar early on Thursday morning, hitting the lower end of the monetary authority's targeted trading band, as the interest rate gap between US dollar and Hong Kong dollar widened further. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Humanity, where are you?' protestors ask at rally for Aleppo

BERLIN - Protestors rallied in Berlin on Saturday against the war in Syria denouncing the international community for failing to help civilians, especially children, in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Holding banners saying "The children of Aleppo are calling you!", or "Aleppo is bleeding and the world is watching", around 900 people braved plunging temperatures to gather in front to the Reichstag, the German parliament building, according to police estimates.

At the same time, another 1,800 people joined a second demonstration elsewhere in the German capital, police said.

"What is happening there amounts to what is the worst in the world," said Mahmoud Almizeh, a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who comes from Raqa, now the bastion of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Germany has opened its doors to some 600,000 Syrian refugees since the conflict began in 2011.

Having arrived in Germany a year ago, Almizeh lamented that European leaders were "unfortunately doing nothing".

In Aleppo on Saturday trapped Syrian civilians and rebels waited desperately for evacuations to resume from an opposition-held enclave of the city which has fallen to the brutal onslaught by Syrian government forces.

Aleppo has been ravaged by some of the worst violence of the nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people.

"We feel so powerless" about the tragedy facing the Syrians, said Anna Bone, a Berlin resident at the demonstration where another banner declared: "Stop murdering! Peace talks NOW."

"This powerlessness... this grief, it's what brought me here today," she added.

Hundreds of protestors also joined demonstrations in France on Saturday in the cities of Paris, Lille, Strasbourg and Marseille.

"It's crazy that the world powers cannot intervene," commented two protestors of Turkish origin, Hilal, 25, and Gulsan, 26, in Paris.

Thousands of trapped civilians and the last remaining opposition fighters in Aleppo were waiting for evacuations to resume on Saturday, a day after the operation was suspended by the Syrian government.

Meanwhile in New York, the UN Security Council could vote as early as this weekend on a French-drafted proposal to allow international observers into Aleppo and ensure urgent aid deliveries.

source: news.abs-cbn.com