LONDON, 26 September 2006 — The dollar firmed against the euro here yesterday on news of existing home sales in the United States that was not as bad as the market had feared.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2744 dollars against 1.2783 late Friday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 116.43 yen, just down from 116.51 on Friday.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2744 dollars against 1.2783 dollars on Friday, 148.37 yen (148.94), 0.6707 pounds (0.6727) and 1.5784 Swiss francs (1.5804). The dollar stood at 116.43 yen (116.51) and 1.2384 Swiss francs (1.2361). On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold stood fell to $584.75 per ounce from $589 late on Friday.
Meanwhile, European stock markets turned in a mixed performance yesterday, with the London FTSE 100 index shedding 0.41 percent to close at 5,798.30. In Paris the CAC 40 edged up 0.09 percent to 5,146.49 while in Frankfurt the DAX rose 0.31 percent to finish at 5,901.66 points.
In New York, Wall Street shares struggled to hold small gains yesterday.
At 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12.56 points (0.11 percent) to 11,520.66 after swinging in and out of positive territory.
