Dollar Falls in Quiet Trading; Gold Up

The dollar fell against most leading currencies in quiet trading Friday, closing near its lows of the day, as interest rates fell in the United States.

Gold prices slipped in Hong Kong but rose later in Europe and the United States.

Republic National Bank of New York said gold bullion was bid at $316 an ounce as of 4 p.m. EDT, up $3 from the late bid Thursday and a gain of $4.50 from the end of the previous week.

The dollar’s losses Friday brought its retreat for the week to 4.5%, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s trade-weighted index against 10 major currencies. In the previous two weeks, the dollar had bounced up 7.4%.

Typical of the dollar’s decline was its performance against the West German mark.

As the week began, the dollar shot above 3.25 marks, but, after failing to hold that level it steadily declined, winding up at around 3.1 marks.