欧元评述(路透社)

EURO TRADES ITS RANGE

The dollar lost about two-tenths of a percent to both the euro and the Swiss franc, trading at $1.0782 per euro (EUR=) and 1.3554 francs (CHF=).

Dealers said the market took notice of comments by U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who said that while Iraq was offering some new information, it still was not fully cooperating with efforts to rid it of banned weapons.

The comments were viewed as giving some backing to the U.S. view that Iraq is not complying with U.N. rules.

But there was little sign that there was any change in position by those countries that opposed a war on Iraq and those that thought it might be necessary.

A compromise proposal by Canada to set March 28 as a deadline for Iraqi compliance with U.N. disarmament demands was greeted coolly by the United States, which contends that Iraq has been given enough time already.

The one-month deadline was far shorter than the four months or more favored by Germany, France and Russia.

Blix's statement "was most certainly not dollar-positive," said Scott Schultz, a trader at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "Overall, the dollar is on the defense today for all the usual reasons and stocks are not helping."

U.S. blue chips (CBOT:^DJI - News) closed down 1.3 percent while the Nasdaq (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) dropped almost 2 percent

But the news was not enough to push the dollar off its well-trod path versus the European currencies.

"This range-trading is going to continue until we get closer to a resolution of the crisis," said Beerling.