LONDON, 15 July 2004 — The dollar weakened against the euro here yesterday on disappointing US retail sales for June but later managed to regain some lost ground.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2388 dollars against 1.2328 in New York late on Tuesday. The dollar was trading at 109.14 yen, up from 108.62 on Tuesday.
While official figures showed US retail sales down 1.1 percent in June — the biggest fall in 16 months — against expectations of a more moderate 0.7 percent decline, upward revisions to back data helped soothe concerns about the state of the US economic recovery.
In the immediate aftermath of the data, the euro surged to a high of 1.2421 dollars but the greenback soon recovered its poise once the revisions had been taken into account.
Oil prices climbed yesterday in the wake of falling inventories of US commercial crude and gasoline. Crude oil stocks fell by 2.1 million barrels to 302.9 million and gasoline, or petrol, stocks dropped 200,000 barrels to 205.9 million in the week to July 9, a survey by the Department of Energy showed yesterday. Distillates — heating oil and diesel — climbed 2.7 million barrels to 116.7 in the same period, it said, including a 1.4-million-barrel increase in heating oil stocks to 44.5 million, an encouraging sign ahead of winter.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 index added 0.34 percent to end the day at 4,372.6. But in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.20 percent to close at 3,648.75 and the Frankfurt DAX lost 0.13 percent to finish at 3,998.84.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares was down 0.31 percent at the close at 2,754.77.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.11 points, or 0.24 percent, to 10,271.70. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 3.13 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,118.27. The technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index gained 1.07 points, or 0.06 percent, to 1,932.73.
Asian stock markets closed sharply lower yesterday.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 251.97 points to 11,356.65. The broader TOPIX index of all First Section shares gave up initial gains and fell 14.98 points or 1.28 percent to 1,151.49.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 145.5 points at 11,932.83, off a low of 11,915.47 and high of 12,133.22 and on turnover of 12.23 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.57 billion).
The Shanghai A-share Index rose 4.53 points or 0.31 percent to 1,473.61 on turnover of 6.52 billion yuan ($787 million) while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 1.52 points or 0.41 percent at 366.47 on turnover of 3.88 billion yuan.
In Singapore the Straits Times index fell 7.25 points to 1,870.90.
