LONDON, 17 March 2005 — The dollar slumped yesterday after data released in the afternoon revealed a sharply wider-than-expected US current account deficit in the fourth quarter.
The euro rose to 1.3418 dollars in late trading from 1.3306 late on Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 104.10 yen from 104.55 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, leading European stocks closed sharply lower day, with the London FTSE 100 index down 1.25 percent at 4,937.6 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX fell 1.79 percent to 4,309.11, while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.43 percent to 4,019.40.
In New York, US stocks fell yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 82.31 points, or 0.77 percent, at 10,662.79. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 7.32 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,190.43. The technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index was down 11.39 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,023.59.
Asian stocks recovered from a shaky start to finish with mostly modest gains yesterday.