Dollar Drops Against Most Currencies

The dollar swung widely in extremely volatile and active trading on Thursday, at one point flirting with a post-World War II low against the Japanese yen, and ended the day mostly down against the other major foreign currencies.

Gold prices turned up in the United States after plunging up to $13 an ounce abroad. Bullion was quoted at $337.25 an ounce at 4 p.m EST at Republic National Bank, up 75 cents from Wednesday’s late bid. “We had a pretty wild and hectic day. There’s been a tremendous amount of intra-day volatility,” said James McGroarty, a vice president with Discount Corp. in New York.

The dollar began the day by falling sharply in Tokyo, where trading ends before Europe’s business day starts. It plunged more than 3 yen to close at a new 7-year low of 178.60 yen, compared with Wednesday’s finish of 181.85.

The Toyko closing was the lowest since the dollar finished at 177.40 yen on Nov. 1, 1978.