LONDON, 15 February 2006 — The dollar was stable against the euro yesterday, while strong US retail sales news reinforced belief that the US Federal Reserve could continue to raise borrowing costs for some time to come.
The euro traded for 1.1898 dollars in late European trading, essentially unchanged from 1.1899 dollars in New York late on Monday. The dollar decreased to 117.42 yen from 117.74 yen on Monday.
The euro was changing hands at 1.1898 dollars against 1.1899 late on Monday, 139.68 yen (140.12), 0.6865 pounds (0.6834) and 1.5580 Swiss francs (1.5560).
The dollar stood at 117.42 yen (117.74) and 1.3098 Swiss francs (1.3075).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at $539.70 compared with $549.30 late on Monday.
Meanwhile, European stock exchanges turned in mixed results yesterday, with the London FTSE 100 index essentially unchanged at 5,792.3 points. In Paris the CAC 40 edged up by 0.08 percent to finish at 4,961.34 points while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 0.12 percent to 5,763.40.
In Amsterdam the AEX index rose by 0.12 percent to 460.04 points, the Swiss SMI slipped by 0.09 percent to 7,882.43, in Milan the SP Mib was down 0.27 percent at 36,866, in Madrid the Ibex-35 was unchanged at 11,395.9 and in Brussels the Bel-20 closed down 0.30 percent at 3,774.16.
In New York, Wall Street shares raced higher in late morning trade yesterday as an unexpectedly strong report on US retail sales allayed concerns about an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 98.05 points (0.90 percent) to 10,990.37 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ added 11.09 points (0.50 percent) to 2,250.90 at 1640 GMT. The main broad-market indicator, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index, advanced 7.02 points (0.56 percent) to 1,269.88.
Asian stocks closed mainly higher yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index gained 307.21 points or 1.93 percent to 16,184.87. In Seoul, the KOSPI index rose 7.42 points to 1,328.21. In Hong Kong, The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 108.23 points at 15,420.32. In Manila, the composite index fell 17.75 points to 2,069.89. In Bombay, The 30-share Sensex fell 86.62 points to 10,086.63.
World oil prices fell yesterday.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, dropped 99 cents to $60.25 per barrel in pit deals. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery shed 61 cents to $60.01 per barrel in electronic trade. The March contract had expired on Monday at $59.38.
