Foreign Exchange for Thursday, Jan. 2, 1986 : Dollar Falls Again; Gold Mixed

The dollar opened the trading year Thursday by falling against all currencies except the Canadian dollar. Gold prices were mixed.

Traders “couldn’t bring it higher, so they just brought it downward,” said Audrey McNiff, a trader with Irving Trust Co., a New York bank.

“Volume was pretty thin, the same as holiday levels,” she added.

In Europe, a sudden late sell-off also pushed the dollar lower against all major currencies except the Canadian dollar.

The U.S. currency had opened lower in Europe, entering 1986 at some of its lowest levels in 2 1/2 years, then rebounding during the day to stand above its Tuesday levels.

But just before business in London ended, traders, disappointed with the dollar’s performance against the West German mark, sold the American currency.

“People anticipate that the dollar is going to come under a great deal of pressure,” said one senior trader from a major British bank.