Foreign Exchange : Dollar Turns Mixed in Late Trading

The dollar turned in a mixed performance Tuesday as a late wave of buying wiped out most of its early losses.

Gold prices also were mixed, rising in Asia and Europe, but falling later in the United States as the dollar regained lost ground. Republic National Bank of New York said gold bullion was bid at $317.80 as of 4 p.m. EDT, down $3.70 from the late bid Monday.

Foreign exchange dealers said the dollar’s recovery was a technical reaction by traders after the U.S. currency ran into resistance during a slide toward an exchange rate viewed as an important barrier.

David Arbesman, a first vice president at Prudential-Bache Securities in New York, said traders who earlier had sold borrowed dollars in hopes of further declines in the currency, “had to run for cover” and buy dollars when the U.S. currency failed to drop below 2.85 marks.