Dollar Falls as US Stocks Take a Leap

LONDON, 31 March 2005 — The dollar fell slightly yesterday after the US economic growth figure for the fourth quarter of 2004 was not revised higher as expected. The euro rose to 1.2948 dollars from 1.2922 late on Tuesday in New York. The dollar eased to 107.44 yen from 107.47 on Tuesday.

US gross domestic product in the last three months of 2004 came in at a 12-month rate of 3.8 percent, unchanged from the previous estimate and short of the predicted 4.1 percent revision. “The dollar sold off on the release of US GDP as players expressed their disappointment in this relatively uninspiring report,” said Michael Woolfolk at Bank of New York. But the US currency did not appear to have sustained any serious damage.

Meanwhile, European stock markets fell back yesterday, with London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index dipping to near two-month lows, dealers said.

The FTSE fell 0.37 percent to 4,900.7 points, the Frankfurt DAX 30 slid 0.10 percent to 4,347.52 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.42 percent to 4,064.61. It was the London Stock Exchange’s lowest closing level since Feb. 1. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares declined 0.43 percent to 3,056.21 points.

In New York, US stocks rallied yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 76.85 points (0.74 percent) to 10,482.55 and the NASDAQ composite rose 19.70 points (1.00 percent) to 1,993.58 at 1625 GMT.

The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index added 7.73 points (0.66 percent) to 1,173.09.

Asian stocks continued under pressure yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 33.94 points to 11,565.88.

In Seoul, the KOSPI index closed down 3.51 points at 955.45, of a low of 946.41. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed up 13.87 points or 0.10 percent at 13,425.75, off a high of 13,460.01 and a low of 13,357.17.

In Sydney, the broader All Ordinaries Index dropped 8.3 points to 4,083.6. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 4.55 points to 2,123.16.The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index gained 19.40 points to 1,951.38 after trading between 1,890.78 and 1,956.37. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensex index was down 13.54 points at 6381.40.