US Dollar Falls In Asia On Lehman; US Stock Futures Drop

From Dow Jones via FXstreet:

...U.S. stock futures are quoted much lower in screen trade, raising concerns about how Wall Street will fare later Monday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 307 points with Nasdaq futures down 2.7% and S&P 500 futures down 3%.

The Japanese yen has made large gains in early Asia trading against the U.S. dollar, the euro and higher-yielding - but risker - currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars. All this reflects the markets' sour mood as the U.S. financial sector undergoes an extraordinary shakeout....

...Recently, the dollar was trading at Y105.89 after dropping to Y105.32, well down from Y107.82 late in New York on Friday. Against the euro, it was around Y151.39 versus Y150.52 earlier, and Y153.30 on Friday.

Trade was extremely volatile because of public holidays Monday in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. China markets were also closed.

"The market clearly went home Friday confident that someone would buy Lehmans by Sunday - surely they just had to agree to a price?" said Westpac Banking senior currency strategist Sean Callow.

He added the lack of a deal is "quite disturbing...MORE