Treasury - Daily Forex for day 18.01.2006

An upbeat report on U.S. industrial capacity use bolstered the dollar against the euro in early New York trade yesterday. The capacity use reached 80.7% in December, the highest rate in five years, up from 80.3% in November. But later the dollar erased some of its gains against the euro as U.S. crude oil futures surged more than $2 to above $66 for the first time in 3-1/2 months due to attacks on Nigeria's oil industry by local militants and tensions between Iran and the West over Iranian nuclear program.

The crown was immune on Tuesday to a fall in other central European currencies led by Polish zloty. Neither the currency showed reaction to November retail sales figures as they came in close to expectations. The crown closed almost flat against the euro at 28.810.