LONDON, 8 October 2005 — The dollar edged higher against the euro here yesterday on news that job losses in the United States after Hurricane Katrina were much lower than had been feared.
The single European currency in late-day trade at around 1600 GMT was at 1.2118 dollars, against 1.2181 dollars late Thursday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 113.84 yen after 113.23 on Thursday.
Elsewhere, the pound remained weak, falling to eight-week lows against the euro, following Thursday’s disappointing British manufacturing output data for August, which re-ignited talk that the Bank of England could cut interest rates before the end of the year.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2118 dollars against 1.2181 late on Thursday in New York, 137.97 yen (137.97), 0.6881 pounds (0.6843) and 1.5501 Swiss francs (1.5476). The dollar stood at 113.84 yen (113.28) and 1.2798 Swiss francs (1.2706).
The pound was trading at 1.7609 dollars (1.7790), 200.41 yen (201.53) and 2.2536 Swiss francs (2.2604).
European stock exchanges weakened yesterday. The London FTSE 100 index shed 0.19 percent to close at 5,362.3 while in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.18 percent to 4,528.79. In Frankfurt the DAX gave up 0.19 percent to end the week at 5,007.77.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average clung to a gain of 11.53 points (0.11 percent) at 10,298.63 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite edged up 2.22 points (0.11 percent) to 2,086.30 at 1515 GMT.
In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 0.99 percent to 13,227.74 points.
Meanwhile, world oil prices swung higher yesterday.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, gained 48 cents to $61.84 per barrel in closing deals.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery added 84 cents to close at $59.21 per barrel.
