SUS still rising

Press, 7 February 1985, Page 26

SUS still rising

NZPA-AP New York

The American dollar broke more records on Tuesday (yesterday, N.Z. time) but ended trading with some currencies below their highs for the day. Gold bullion prices were little changed in listless* trading. At the Republic National Bank in New York, gold bullion was bid at SUS3O2 a troy ounce at 4pm (10 a.m. yesterday, N.Z. time), unchanged from Monday’s late bid.

Aggressive intervention by Japan’s central bank curbed the dollar’s advance against the yen, but the dollar rose to all-time highs, against the Italian lira, French franc and Spanish peseta for the second successive day. It also set new highs against the currencies of Denmark and Norway, and established 13-year highs against the West German mark and Dutch guilder and a seven-year high against the Swiss franc.

The Federal Reserve

Board said in Washington that its index measuring the dollar against 10 other currencies on the basis of trade rose to a new high of 155.20 from the previous record of 155 set on Monday. Mr Satoshi Sumita, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said in Tokyo that the bank intended to intervene “swiftly and actively” in support of the yen. Mr Sumita blamed the dollar’s rise on “overly sensitive” speculation that United States interest rates will rise, although he acknowledged that American economic recovery has played a role in the currency’s performance.