LONDON, 9 November 2006 — The dollar was barely changed against the euro in late European trading yesterday as traders assessed the outcome of US mid-term elections which handed big gains to the Democrats.
The euro rose fractionally to 1.2775 dollars in late trading, from 1.2773 dollars in New York late on Tuesday. The dollar gained to 117.76 yen from 117.68 yen late on Tuesday.
The euro was changing hands yesterday at 1.2775 dollars against 1.2773 dollars on Tuesday, 150.41 yen (150.30), 0.6703 pounds (0.6702) and 1.5958 Swiss francs (1.5960). The dollar stood at 117.76 yen (117.68) and 1.2492 Swiss francs (1.2493).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold eased to $623.30 per ounce, from $625.75 late on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, European stock exchanges slipped back yesterday, with the London FTSE 100 index by a slight 0.08 percent at 6,239.0 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX shed 0.20 percent to 6,349.26 and in Paris the CAC 40 closed essentially flat, down by a mere 0.01 percent at 5,437.16 points.
In New York, at 1659 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 20.49 points (0.17 percent) at 12,136.28, after closing strongly on Tuesday. However, the index was off lows struck in earlier trading. The technology-rich NASDAQ composite was down 2.01 points (0.08 percent) at 2,373.87 while the broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index fell 1.57 points (0.11 percent) to 1,381.27.
Asian stocks tumbled yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index lost 177.67 points to close at 16,215.74. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed down 128.07 points at 18,811.24. In Sydney, the SP ASX 200 fell 32.4 points to 5,459.2.