Exchange market quiet

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 34

Exchange market quiet

PA Wellington The foreign exchange market remained quiet and directionless in Wellington. The U.S. dollar, at 2.8888/ 95 marks, finished little changed from its opening level. Dealers said it initially went higher on the strength of a weaker United States credit market and higher Federal Funds rate but drifted back again on profit taking. They said the market was awaiting new factors before it breaks out of its current directionless phase. Against yen the dollar

traded in a range between 241.70 and 242.10. It finished at 241.72/82. The Australian dollar strengthened from its 0.8465/70 U.S. dollars opening to 0.8510/15 at the close. Dealers said there was a large commercial buying order to account for the Australian unit’s rise. The New Zealand dollar was steady, closing at $U50.4985/88 dollars after opening at $U50.4979/82. The Reserve Bank indicative mid-rate closed at 0.4990, two points above its opening. In New York, the American dollar turned higher in lack-

lustre trading on Monday, buoyed by rising interest rates in the United States. Gold lost ground to the rising dollar, with bullion bid at SUS34B a troy ounce as of 4 p.m. at Republic National Bank in New York, a drop of $4 from the late bid on Friday. Trading was slow in currency ano bullion markets because of bank holidays that closed markets in London and Hong Kong. Currency dealers in Europe and the United States said as interest rates climbed in United States credit markets, the dollar followed. “It was the same normal knee-jerk reaction,” said Mr David Palmer, a senior vice-president at First American Bank of New York.