Foreign Exchange for Thursday, Aug. 15, 1985 : Economic Doubts Push Dollar Lower

The dollar fell again against all major European currencies Thursday as doubts persisted that the U.S. economy would post a strong second-half performance. Gold was up.

The British pound also gained, breaking through the $1.40 mark to $1.4015 from $1.3893 late Wednesday in New York trading.

At 4 p.m EDT at Republic National Bank in New York, gold stood at $332.50 an ounce, up $6.30 over Wednesday’s price.

Traders said an address by South African President P. W. Botha put upward pressure on gold in late trading.

On the dollar’s slide Thursday, Leslie Puth, a currency analyst at Irving Trust, said the market has been affected by a series of negative news about the U.S. economy.

“Auto sales dropped more than expected, inventories were up, and June sales were down 2.1%,” she said.