Dollar Gains Again; Gold Below $300

Traders continued to bid up the dollar to uncharted levels Thursday, again lifting the U.S. currency to record highs against the British pound, French franc and Italian lira.

The price of gold, meanwhile, fell below $300 an ounce. Republic National Bank in New York quoted gold as of 4 p.m. EST at $299 an ounce, down $4.50 from Wednesday’s late bid.

In European foreign-exchange trading, the dollar also set 13-year highs against the West German mark and Dutch guilder, and it reached a seven-year high against the Swiss franc.

In addition, the Federal Reserve and Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. said the dollar hit record highs in their separate trade-weighted measures of the currency.

The dollar’s rally was fueled earlier this week by expectations that U.S. interest rates have bottomed, which improved the outlook for yields on dollar-denominated investments.