LONDON, 20 September 2003 — The dollar plunged to a 33-month low against the yen yesterday as markets continued to test the willingness of Japanese monetary authorities to intervene to stem the trend.
The euro meanwhile took advantage of the yen movement and scored its own big gains against the greenback, trading at 1.1342 dollars in late-day deals against 1.1256 in New York late on Thursday. Against the yen the dollar fell to 113.95 from 115.27 on Thursday.
The euro was changing hands at 1.1342 dollars from 1.1256 late on Thursday in New York, 129.25 yen (129.74), 0.6949 pounds (0.6957) and 1.5553 Swiss francs from 1.5587. The dollar was being quoted at 113.95 yen (115.27) and 1.3713 Swiss francs (1.3848).
Meanwhile, European stock markets faltered at the end of the week Friday in the face of profit-taking and a lackluster opening on Wall Street.
The London FTSE 100 index, dragged down by telecoms and financial issues, gave up 1.34 percent to end the session at 4,257.
In Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.21 percent to finish at 3,373.64, while in Frankfurt the DAX was off 0.56 percent at 3,591.67 in mid-afternoon trade. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 had fallen 1.04 percent by the end of the day to 2,532.99.
Elsewhere in Europe, share prices fell 0.07 percent to 26,178 in Milan, 1.29 percent to 7,102.1 in Madrid, 1.06 percent to 334.82 in Amsterdam and 0.57 percent to 2,109.88 in Brussels.
The Swiss Market Index of London-quoted issues finished at 5,387.10 points, a loss of 0.65 percent.
In New York, stocks dipped yesterday after a big rally on Wall Street a day earlier pushed major market gauges to their best levels since the first half of 2002.
The NASDAQ Composite Index shed 4 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,904. The Dow Jones industrials lost 10 points, or 0.11 percent, at 9,649. The Standard & Poor’s 500 eased 3 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,036.
So far this week, the NASDAQ is up about 2.7 percent, the Dow has climbed roughly 1.9 percent and the S&P 500 has advanced 1.7 percent.
Asia’s stock markets were mostly lower yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei-225 index dropped 94.90 points to end at 10,938.42.
In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index lost 100.80 points to close at 10,968.42. In Sydney, the All Ordinaries index was down 1.6 points at 3,223.4.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index declined 11.37 points to 1,589.86, while the broader All Singapore Equities dropped 1.97 points to 437.67.
In Seoul, the composite index closed down 9.93 points at 748.25.
