oint," said a currency options dealer. "Some say we could go to 90 cents, others say we can go to parity. The market is still very nervous." Widening differentials are likely to hurt the euro further. Analysts expect another U.S. interest-rate increase by month's end, particularly after the Federal Reserve's latest beige book reported "appreciable expansion" in the U.S. economy from January through February. Early last week, Europe's common currency plunged to a record of 93.90 cents after it became apparent that the European Central Bank wouldn't raise interest rates at its midweek meeting. Although the euro was trading yesterday two cents above its all-time lows, analysts aren't ruling out the possibility of a return to those earlier levels -- especially if the Fed raises rates as expected in late March. The Australian dollar rose to 60.92 cents late in New York from 60.50 cents late Tuesday. The Australian Reserve Bank said yesterday that it had opted to leave interest rates unchanged. The South African rand retraced earlier losses against the dollar. It ended the New York session at 6.4685 rand to the dollar, compared with 6.5315 rand late Tuesday. Steven Leach, chief economist for Citibank's foreign-exchange desk in New York, wasn't surprised by the rand's reversal. He said the South African currency, which is still down more than 5% against the dollar for the year, has been undervalued at recent levels. The dollar also slipped further against the Mexican peso, as the Mexican stock market surged more than 3.6%. Late yesterday, the dollar was buying 9.269 pesos, compared with 9.28 pesos late Tuesday. ...
