Foreign Exchange for Tuesday, Jan. 14, 1986 : Dollar Up in Late Trading; Gold Off

The dollar posted broad gains late Tuesday in the United States after a mixed performance abroad.

The price of gold fell in most markets. Republic National Bank of New York said gold bullion was bid at $339.25 an ounce as of 4 p.m. EST, down 25 cents from Monday’s late bid.

The dollar got little help from a Commerce Department report that U.S. retail sales rose 1.9% in December, foreign exchange dealers said. Analysts had expected a gain of that size and the report was accompanied by a downward revision of the November increase in retail sales to 0.7% from the 1.1% originally reported.

“The market is kind of playing it close to the vest, really marking time until it seems what happens in London this weekend,” said Lawrence Kreicher, a vice president and economist at Irving Trust Co., a major New York bank.

Investors appeared unwilling to take strong positions ahead of the meeting of central bankers and finance ministers from the big five Western nations.