LONDON, 7 July 2005 — The dollar maintained a slim advance yesterday amid expectations that a relatively strong US payrolls report due tomorrow will help justify a greenback at multi-month highs against the world’s leading currencies. The euro stood at 1.1922 dollars against 1.1914 late Tuesday. The dollar stood at 112.17 yen, up from 111.72 late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, European stock exchanges closed higher yesterday. In London, the Footsie-100 index closed 0.76 percent higher at 5,299.6 points, its highest level since May 16, 2002. In Paris, the CAC 40 finished up 0.64 percent at 4,279.95 points, while the German DAX closed 0.26 percent higher at 4,615.29 points. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares gained 0.51 percent to 3,224.11.
In New York, US blue chips slipped yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21.93 points, or 0.21 percent, at 10,349.87. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 1.97 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,203.02. The technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index rose 2.69 points, or 0.13 percent, at 2,081.44.
Asian stocks closed mixed yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index fell 13.17 points to 11,603.53. In Seoul, the KOSPI index closed up 0.2 points at 1,019.01.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed up 25.13 points at 14,149.93.
In Mumbai, the 30-share Sensex rose 67.35 points to close at 7,287.6.
