LONDON,18 August 2005 — The dollar briefly struck a two-week high against the euro yesterday on news that US producer prices rose a larger-than-expected 1.0 percent in July due to higher prices for automobiles and gasoline.
The euro fell to 1.2290 dollars in late European trading from 1.2361 late on Tuesday in New York. The dollar rose to 109.64 yen from 109.51 on Tuesday. The core rate of US inflation at the wholesale level - adjusted to exclude volatile food and energy costs — rose 0.4 percent, with half the gain in the core Producer Price Index rate due to car and truck prices.
Meanwhile, European stock markets closed lower yesterday, with the London FTSE 100 index falling 0.56 percent to 5,292.7 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 dropped 0.25 percent to 4,871.46, while the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.11 percent to 4,439.63.
In New York, Wall Street shares swung higher yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 53.26 points (0.51 percent) to 10,566.71.