21.  Analysts said the dollar moved higher against the French currency following the resignation in Paris of Finance Minister Alain Madelin.

22.  Dealers said that the French currency also gained from the rise in the dollar.

23.  Pressure on the French currency will be accentuated if Jospin wins as he will not have a parliamentary majority, Edmonds added.

24.  Some analysts, however, said the French currency had been affected by an announcement from unions representing French civil servants of a day of strike action in mid-October.

25.  The French currency recovered against the German mark after aides to newly elected President Jacques Chirac brushed aside speculation that he planned to devalue the franc.

26.  The greenback lost slightly against the French currency but gained against the Swiss franc and the pound sterling.

27.  The French currency came under attack on the foreign exchanges on Friday, losing four centimes against the Deutsche Mark.

28.  The French currency came under pressure following the announcement by European Commission president Jacques Delors that he would not standing in the French presidential elections next year.

29.  The French currency had earlier this week lost six centimes against the mark in response to an attack by Chirac on Trichet late last week.

30.  The French currency was again hurt by ongoing labor conflicts in France, where no imminent agreement between strikers and the government appears likely.