Foreign Exchange for Tuesday, Dec. 3, 1985 : Dollar Advances; Gold Prices Mixed

The dollar advanced against a broad range of major foreign currencies Tuesday, continuing a rally analysts attributed to a rise in long-term U.S. interest rates. The price of gold was mixed. Republic National Bank of New York said that as of 4 p.m. EST gold bullion was bid at $322.50 an ounce, down 30 cents from the late bid Monday.

The dollar continued the rise it began after reaching two-year lows Monday against the West German mark and the British pound in European trading.

Analysts said recent edging up of long-term U.S. interest rates and some positive news about the state of the U.S. economy helped stabilize the dollar.

“Some of the extreme bearishness of the U.S. economy is receding and we’re seeing a little bit more support for the dollar at these very low levels,” said Lawrence Kreicher, an economist at Irving Trust Co. in New York. However, Kreicher and other analysts also said the rally probably did not indicate an end to the bearish trend against the dollar in the past few weeks.