LONDON, 8 September 2005 — The dollar edged higher against the euro here yesterday ahead of remarks by a member of the US Federal Reserve that could yield clues on the direction of US interest rates.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2446 dollars against 1.2461 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 110.01 yen after 109.65 on Tuesday.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2446 dollars against 1.2461 late on Tuesday in New York, 136.93 yen (136.60), 0.6764 pounds (0.6765) and 1.5425 Swiss francs (1.5435). The dollar stood at 110.01 yen (109.65) and 1.2392 Swiss francs (1.2385).
Meanwhile, European stock exchanges posted gains for the third straight day yesterday on positive corporate results and despite a lackluster opening on Wall Street.
The London FTSE 100 index rose 0.13 percent to close at 5,365.9 while in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.30 percent to finish at 4,486.19. In Frankfurt the DAX at one stage surged past 5,000 points before closing at 4,988.14, a gain of 0.40 percent over Tuesday. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares added 0.23 percent to end the session at 3,349.46.
Elsewhere there were gains of 0.34 percent to 10,408 on the Ibex-35 in Madrid, 1.13 percent on the Swiss Market Index, 0.31 percent to 34,092 on the SP Mib in Milan, 0.20 percent to 3,257.77 on the Bel-20 in Brussels and 0.04 percent to 394.30 on the AEX in Amsterdam.
In New York, US blue-chip stocks rose slightly yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12.02 points, or 0.11 percent, at 10,601.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 0.82 point, or 0.07 percent, at 1,234.21. And the technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index was down 0.68 point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,166.18.
Asian stocks closed mostly firmer yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed 8.16 points or 0.06 percent higher at 12,607.59 on volume of 1.93 billion shares. In Seoul, the KOSPI index rose 20.34 points to the day’s high of 1,142.99, beating the previous closing record of 1,138.75 set on November 8, 1994. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 63.79 points at 15,224.57, off a low of 15,205.99 and a high of 15,271.21.
In Sydney, All Ordinaries index finished up 34.0 points at 4,456.3. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 7.53 points to 2,296.90. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 7.43 points to 919.07.
In Manila, the composite index closed up 0.62 points at 1,897.33 after trading between 1,895.61 and 1,916.76. Bombay closed for public holiday.
