High interest rates keep U.S. dollar firm

Press, 17 June 1982, Page 23

High interest rates keep U.S. dollar firm

PA New York I ( The U.S. dollar set records ‘ against the Italian lira and < the Canadian dollar . yester- I dav and reached a 22-month high against the Japanese i yen as it continued to be ; bolstered .by high U.S. in- ] terest rates.'Gold flirted with • i its-March lows of 5312 a troy ounce, but/recovered some i ground before the close of trading jiniNew York.. ■ In : .Europe, the dollar gained i more ground on the Italian lira, rising to 1365 lira.' from the previous high of® 1359.5 . lira reached on MdhqSyy•• ■ ' In Montreal, the Canadian dollar dropped to 78.25 U.S. cents, r down.from- the previous low of 78.55 cents on Monday. ■ The dollar gave ..some ground near the end Of trad- ’ ing in Europe; in f what ! dealers attributed to investor: ’ reaction to testimony by. the U.S. .Federal Reserve Board chairman (Paul Volcker) to Congress. Volcker said that although the money supply

has been faster than the Central Bank would like, the “Fed’’ believes the growth is consistent with its anti-infla-tionary policies.; Meanwhile interest rates remained stable in the U.S. and the dollar's declines in Europe were reversed by the end of the day in New York. Despite British euphoria over its Falkland Islands vic-, tory, the pound dropped in New York to $1.7615 from: Monday’s lalorate. of 1.7722.; Other late, dollar- rates m New York, compared with yesterday, included: ;2.4212 West German ...marks, unchanged, 6.7175 /■ ' French francs, up from 6.7060, 2.0765 Swiss francs, up from 2.0675, 251.58 Japanese’ yen; up from 250.40, and 1.2791 Canadian dollars, up from 1.2716. Gold for current delivery ‘ fell $1.30 a troy ounce on the 5 New <York Commodity Exchange, closing at $316. In later New York trading, bullion was also bid at $316 at Republic - National Bank, down from $317 late on Monday? - ■