Foreign Exchange for Thursday, Oct. 3, 1985 : Dollar Hits Lowest Levels in 1 1/2 Years

The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest levels in nearly 1 1/2 years in foreign exchange trading Thursday in the United States after turning in a mixed performance in Europe.

Gold prices rose. Republic National Bank in New York quoted a bid for gold at $329.25 an ounce as of 4 p.m. EDT, up $5.25 from Wednesday’s after-hours bid.

Silver also shot higher, rising 5.5% on the Commodity Exchange in New York after it was reported that the Hunt family of Texas had quietly sold “substantially all” of its $350-million holding of silver.

In currency trading, the dollar fell 1.02% on the Federal Reserve Board’s trade-weighted index, which measures the value of the dollar against 10 major currencies.

That left the dollar at its lowest level since April 13, 1984, and 7% below its value on the last trading day before the United States and four other major industrial nations announced Sept. 22 that they would cooperate to lower the value of the dollar.