LONDON, 4 October 2005 — The dollar continued to rise yesterday against other currencies in the wake of strong US economic data, with the Turkish lira also higher as Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union were given a boost by EU member states.
The euro fell to 1.1911 dollars in late European trade from 1.2023 late on Friday in New York. The dollar stood at 114.21 yen from 113.46 yen on Friday.
The European single currency fell to 1.1904 dollars earlier in the day, not far from its weakest level this year of 1.1868 dollars reached on July 5.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at $466.10 from $473.25 late on Friday.
Meanwhile, European stock markets closed higher yesterday. London’s FTSE 100 index climbed 0.43 percent to 5,501.5 points, the Frankfurt DAX 30 rose 0.75 percent to 5,082.07 and the Paris CAC 40 added 0.49 percent at 4,622.54. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares advanced 0.61 percent to 3,449.34.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 32.58 points, or 0.31 percent, at 10,536.12. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 2.68 points, or 0.22 percent, at 1,226.13. But the NASDAQ Composite Index was up 3.62 points, or 0.17 percent, at 2,155.31, buoyed by tech shares.
Asian stocks closed narrowly mixed in subdued trade yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index fell 49.02 points or 0.36 percent to 13,525.28 on volume of 3.0 billion shares. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 34.13 points at 15,394.39.
In Sydney, the broader All Ordinaries index added 0.6 points to 4,593.2. In Bombay, the 30-share Sensex index rose 63.17 points, 0.73 percent, to 8,697.65.
In London, world oil prices dipped yesterday in range-bound trade, but traders remained uncertain about the consequences of hurricane-battered refineries in the US Gulf Coast. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, shed 44 cents to $65.80 per barrel in early trading. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery lost 61 cents to $62.87 per barrel.
