Last Update: 12/3/2008 10:16:39 AM Good Morning! The Yen slipped against the Dollar and the Euro in Tokyo trade today, as a rise in global shares reduced demand for the safe-haven Japanese currency. But overall trading was subdued as investors awaited interest rate decisions by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Thursday. The market expects all of them to slash rates as the global financial crisis continues to take a toll on their economies, while investors believe the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan have only limited scope for further rate cuts. That limited gains in the Euro against the Dollar and the Yen. Japans Nikkei share average rose 2.0%, following Wall Street higher. Moves in equities are seen as a barometer of investor risk appetite, with players closely eyeing equity performance for direction as a stock market rise could hurt demand for the U.S. and Japanese currencies. The Dollar edged up 0.2% from late Tuesday U.S. trading to 93.40 Yen after falling as low as 92.86 Yen in early Asian trade. The U.S. currency hit a five-week low of 92.63 the previous day. The Euro edged up 0.2% to $1.2730. Against the Yen, the European single currency rose 0.4% to 118.96 Yen. Sterling was up 0.1% at $1.4922. The markets focal point at the moment is how aggressively the ECB and BoE cut interest rates, narrowing their currencies yield advantages over the Dollar and the Yen. The ECB is seen lowering rates by at least 50 basis points, from 3.25%, while investors bet the BoE will slash rates by 100 basis points from the current 3.0% level. Fed Chairman Bernanke said on Monday the U.S. central bank had alternative tools it could employ to help the economy as interest rates approach zero, though he said further cuts in rates beneath the current 1% level were feasible. The Dollar is likely to stay buoyant against the Euro as Euro zone interest rates could be further lowered even after the expected ECB rate cut this week, said a chief economist at Shinko Securities. Japans central bank said on Tuesday it would expand lending by about 3 trillion Yen ($32.2 billion) to help tide over companies from the credit squeeze but left rates steady at 0.3% at an emergency meeting.   STOCKS The Nikkei average was up 1.7% today, buoyed by a jump in retailers, though automakers weighed on the market in the face of a sharp drop in U.S. car sales. The benchmark Nikkei earlier rose over 2%. As of 0405 GMT it had added 129.53 points to 7,993.22. It lost 6.4% on Tuesday to book a nearly two-week closing low. The broader Topix gained 1.3% to 797.50. U.S. stocks snapped back on Tuesday after a pledge by General Electric, a global bellwether, to leave its dividend intact in a fragile economy sparked optimism. Financial stocks recovered a sizable chunk of Mondays record loss after the Federal Reserve extended several emergency measures integral to stabilizing banks during the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 270.00 points, or 3.31%, at 8,419.09. The Standard & Poors 500 Index rose 32.60 points, or 3.99%, at 848.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 51.73 points, or 3.70%, at 1,449.80. Executives of the big three U.S. automakers, including Chrysler, are due to present Washington with their plans to justify a $25 billion bailout as worries about possible bankruptcy persist. Advancers outnumbered decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, while the ratio of advancers was more than 2 to 1 to decliners on the Nasdaq. Britains leading share index ended 1.4 pct higher on Tuesday, recovering some of Mondays falls in tandem with a rally on Wall Street, with oil stocks higher as crude prices steadied, offsetting weakness in miners. The FTSE 100 was up 57.37 points at 4,122.86, below the days peak of 4.137.11 but well above the 3,973.26 low. The UK benchmark slid 5.2% Monday and is down over 36% on the year amid fears of a deep global recession. Oil issues provided the main lift for the UK blue chips, recovering with a steadier crude price after recent falls, although crude stayed below $49 a barrel.   COMMODITY Gold fell more than 1%, defying a rebound in oil prices, after the U.S. Dollar bounced against the Euro and speculators in Japan shifted some of their money back to stocks. Investors await a series of economic data due out this week, including U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers on Friday, and interest rate decisions from central banks, which could give direction to the Dollar and precious metals. Gold was trading at $776.90, down $4.60 from New Yorks notional close. It fell as low as $772.10 on Wednesday, not far from a near two-week low of $761.30 hit the previous day. Bullion has rebounded around 14% since falling to a 13-month low of $680.80 in October, but the upside was capped by recent weakness in oil, a firm Dollar and worries about an increasingly bleak global economic outlook that could curb investors appetite for risky assets. Platinum was trading at $794.00, down $2.00 from New York notional close. It has fallen lost more than 60% since hitting record of $2,290 in March to track weaker gold and recently, dismal auto sales and recession fears. Copper fell further on news industrywide U.S. auto sales fell 35% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.5 million, more than a 20 year low. Oil prices fell nearly 5% to below $47 a barrel, down $100 from their peak, driven down by a gloomy economic outlook. Benchmark LME copper for three-month delivery ended the Tuesday kerb lower at $3,550 a tonne than Mondays close at $3,590 a tonne. Wish you a good day ahead! Saudi Riyal Market Dollar/Riyal traded around 3.7500/3.7550 and the Saudi cash market is fairly liquid on short  and long term dates. The one-week SAR is quoted around 1.50%, and the USD/SAR swap market kept the same levels with small interest to take any position.  One-year swap trades at  +140/+190.