LONDON, 10 October 2006 — The dollar edged higher against the euro here yesterday while the yen and the South Korean won came under pressure following the announcement of North Korea’s nuclear test. The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2600 dollars after 1.2598 late Friday in New York. The dollar meanwhile moved up at one point to 119.30 yen, its highest level since February 3, from 118.98 on Friday. The euro rose to 150.29 yen from 149.89 on Friday.
Meanwhile, European equity markets closed mixed yesterday. The London FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 0.49 percent to end the day at 6,030.90 points. In Paris the CAC 40 inched up 0.05 percent to close at 5,284.74 while in Frankfurt the DAX lost 0.02 percent to finish at 6,084.40. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares closed down 0.02 percent at 3,939.48 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 18.09 points (0.15 percent) to 11,832.12 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ rose a fractional 0.52 point (0.02 percent) at 2,300.51 at 1520 GMT. The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index was down 1.12 points (0.12 percent) at 1,348.46.
Asian stocks tumbled yesterday. In Seoul, the KOSPI index lost 32.60 points at 1,319.40. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 228.15 points at 17,675.24. In Sydney, the SP ASX 200 fell 21.6 points to 5,199.1.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index lost 27.79 points at 2,621.51. In Kuala Lumpur, the composite index lost 1.60 points to 969.38. In Manila, the composite index shed 8.30 points at 2,551.92.