LONDON, 13 October 2005 — The dollar fell against the euro here yesterday as investors adopted a cautious view of prospects for more US interest rate hikes. The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2039 dollars after 1.1992 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 114.36 yen against 114.50 on Tuesday.
The US currency got a fillip on Tuesday when the minutes of the Sept. 20 meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers, at which the US benchmark rate was lifted by a quarter point to 3.75 percent, showed concerns about rising inflationary pressures.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2039 dollars against 1.1992 late on Tuesday in New York, 137.67 yen (137.32), 0.6868 pounds (0.6867) and 1.5469 Swiss francs (1.5465). The dollar stood at 114.36 yen (114.50) and 1.2849 Swiss francs (1.2896).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold slipped to $475.10 from $475.50 late on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, European stock exchanges wilted yesterday.
In London the FTSE 100 index fell 0.72 percent to close at 5,342.2 while in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.76 percent to finish at 4,515.05. In Frankfurt the DAX gave up 1.01 percent to end the session at 4,981.77. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares dropped 0.82 percent to reach 3,359.85.
Elsewhere there were declines of 0.82 percent to 10,721.8 on the Ibex-35 in Madrid, 1.06 percent to 393.70 on the AEX in Amsterdam, 0.67 percent to 6,918.97 on the Swiss Market Index, 0.27 percent to 3,329.11 on the Bel-20 in Brussels and
In New York, Wall Street struggled again yesterday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 4.56 points (0.04 percent) to 10,257.73 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite retreated 13.89 points (0.67 percent) to 2,047.20 at 1540 GMT. The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index shed 2.14 points (0.18 percent) to 1,182.73.
Asian stocks closed mostly lower yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index lost 92.97 points or 0.69 percent to 13,463.74. In Seoul, the KOSPI index closed down 27.21 points at 1,217.06. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 323.75 points at 14,575.02.
In Sydney, the SP ASX 200 closed up 39.4 points at 4,468.2. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 34.49 points to 2,320.53. In Kuala Lumpur, the composite index added 0.06 points to 928.49. In Manila, the composite index fell 5.96 points to 1,958.26. Bombay stock market was closed yesterday. In Karachi, the 100 Index gained 169.64 points to 8,792.07.
World oil prices rose yesterday, finding further support in demand forecasts from the International Energy Agency, alongside keen Chinese demand, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, rose 77 cents to $64.30 per barrel in pit trading, after gaining $1.73 on Tuesday. In London yesterday, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery advanced 42 cents to $60.50 per barrel in electronic deals.
